After Ajmer Jail Inmate’s Death With Cell CCTV Offline, Rajasthan HC Orders Pending CCTV Installation And Repairs Across State Prisons

The High Court considered a batch of PILs concerning prisoners’ rights and welfare, prison security and infrastructure, and conditions in Rajasthan’s jails.

The proceedings originated in 2008–2012 and were expanded to address, among other matters, prisoner wages, hygiene, women prisoners’ facilities, custodial deaths, and open correctional institutions.

In 2026, the Court sought a status report after an undertrial prisoner, Jagan Gurjar, was allegedly killed by another inmate in Ajmer High Security Jail.

The State reported that the CCTV camera covering the cell had gone offline before the incident, while the jail administration had made repeated maintenance requests.

The Court also considered the State’s compliance report and the Amicus Curiae’s objections concerning CCTV coverage, staffing, searches for mobile phones, and other outstanding measures.

The Court referred to the Rajasthan Prisoners Rules, 2022, the Parole Rules, 2021, and the Shortening of Sentences Rules, 2026 as measures forming part of the State’s prison-reform framework.

The petition concerning washing soda and water arose under Rule 120 of the Rajasthan Prisons Rules, 1951, and was treated as subsumed within earlier directions on water supply and hygiene.

On prisoner wages, the Court invoked the Supreme Court’s decision in Phool Kumari v. Superintendent, Central Jail, Tihar, New Delhi, directing the State to ensure wages remain consistent with its mandates.

The Court also treated its earlier orders of 27.01.2016 and 05.03.2018 as continuing directions requiring compliance and monitoring.

The judgment does not set out a separate statutory or constitutional test; its operative principle is that prison reforms require continuing, verifiable implementation rather than episodic or aggregate reporting.

The Court recognized that the proceedings had produced substantial reforms, including updated rules and infrastructure improvements, but considered the Ajmer death and the reported CCTV, staffing, and security deficiencies evidence that implementation remained incomplete.

Because the murder was under investigation and the State was pursuing reforms, the Court concluded that keeping the PILs pending indefinitely would serve no further purpose; however, closure without an ongoing accountability mechanism would be inadequate.

It therefore paired disposal of the petitions with time-bound operational directions and quarterly review by a State-Level Monitoring Committee.

It directed DOIT and RISL to address maintenance requests and, within three months, install proposed cameras, repair defective cameras, and ensure functional storage and backup systems.

It further ordered an SOP and institution-wise logs for surprise prison searches; assessment and time-bound recruitment of Challani Guards; prisoner wages consistent with Phool Kumari; functional sanitary vending machines in women’s prisons; finalization of the policy on meetings between closely related convicts within two months; and notification of the Rajasthan Custodian Death Relief Scheme 2025 within three months.

The Committee must meet quarterly to review compliance with these directions and the Court’s earlier order of 27.01.2016.