Solitary Confinement as a Criminal Sanction in India: A critical Legal and Human Rights

Abstract

Solitary Confinement, a widely debated practice in the world of incarceration, continues to pose many pique problems in India due to its psychological impact and legal implication. Its impact on mental health such as depression, anxiety, and even the risk of suicide is well known, but much of the discussion stays too broad and misses how this punishment falls hardest on those already vulnerable. Women prisoners, juveniles, LGBTQ+ inmates, and people struggling with mental illness face solitary confinement in ways that deepen their suffering and push them further to the margins. This research aims to bring that neglected reality of solitary confinement into focus by studying how Indian law such as the earlier IPC and its comparison with the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Prisons Act, etc, while also looking at the actual practices inside prisons, including the use of the “And a cell.” It also draws from international standards like the Mandela Rules, the Bangkok Rules, and the CRPD, as well as NCRB data, psychiatric studies, and human rights reports. By putting law and lived experience together, this paper argues that solitary confinement, as it is practiced in India, violates the constitutional guarantee of dignity under Article 21, and calls for reforms that replace punitive isolation with decarceration, mental health care, and rehabilitative approaches.