1. Title, extent and commencement.—
(1) This Act may be called the Prisons Act, 1894.
(2) It extends to the whole of India except the territories which immediately
before the 1st November, 1956, were comprised in Part B States.
(3) It shall come into force on the first day of July, 1894.
(4) Nothing in this Act shall apply to civil jails in the State of Bombay as it
existed immediately before the 1st November, 1956 outside the city of
Bombay, and those jails shall continue to be administered under the provisions
of sections 9 and 16 (both inclusive) of Bombay Act II of 1874 as amended by
subsequent enactments.
COMMENT
Commencement of sentence.- The accused commences undergoing the
sentence of imprisonment imposed by the judgment as soon as the accuses is detained
in Court custody by reason thereof. [Bhajan Naik v. Somanth Mohanty, 1969 Cri Lj
1414 at 1417 (Orissa) : AIR 1969 Ori 268]
2. Repealed. [Repealed by the Repealing Act, 1938 (Act No 1 of 1938),
Section 2 and the Schedule 3].
3. Definitions.—In this Act—
(1) “prison” means any jail or place used permanently or temporarily under the
general or special orders of a State Government for the detention of prisoners, and
includes all lands and buildings appurtenant thereto, but does not include—
(a) Any place for the confinement of prisoners who are exclusively in the custody of
the police;
(b) Any place specially appointed by the State Government under section 5411
of the
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898; or
(c) Any place which has been declared by the State Government, by general or
special order, to be a subsidiary jail;
(2) “Criminal prisoner” means any prisoner duly committed to custody under the
writ, warrant or order of any Court or authority exercising criminal jurisdiction, or by
order of a Court-martial;
(3) “Convicted criminal prisoner” means any criminal prisoner under sentenced of a
Court or Court-martial, and includes a person detained in prison under the provisions
of Chapter VIII of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (10 of 1898)
2
, or under the
Prisoners Act, 1871 (V of 1871) ;
(4) “Civil prisoner” means any prisoner who is not a criminal prisoner;
(5) “remission system” means the rules for the time being in force regulating the
award of marks to, and the consequent shortening of sentences of, prisoners in jail;
(6) “history-ticket” means the ticket exhibiting such information as is required in
respect of each prisoner by this Act or the rules there under;
(7) “Inspector General” means the Inspector General of Prisons and in relation to the
performance of such function of the Inspector-General as are entrusted by or under
the rules made under this Act to Deputy-Inspector-General of Prison, includes such.
(8) “Medical Subordinate” means an Assistant Surgeon, Apothecary or qualified
Hospital Assistant; and
(9) “Prohibited article” means an article the introduction or removal of which into or
out of a prison is prohibited by any rule under this Act.