27. Separation of prisoners.—The requisitions of this Act with respect to the
separation of prisoners are as follows:
(1) In a prison containing female as well as male prisoners, the females shall
be imprisoned in separate buildings, or separate parts of the same building, in such
manner as to prevent their seeing, or conversing or holding any intercourse with, the
male prisoners ;
(2) in a prison where male prisoners under the age of twenty-one are confined,
means shall be provided for separating them altogether from the other prisoners and
for separating those of them who have arrived at the age of puberty from those who
have not;
(3) unconvicted criminal prisoners shall be kept apart from convicted criminal
prisoners ; and
(4) civil prisoners shall be kept apart from criminal prisoners.
28. Association and segregation of prisoners.—Subject to the requirements
of the last foregoing section, convicted criminal prisoners may be confined either in
association or individually in cells or partly in one way and partly in the other.
29. Solitary confinement.—No cell shall be used for solitary confinement
unless it is furnished with the means of enabling the prisoner to communicate at any
time with an officer of the prison, and immediately on his arrival in the prison after
sentence, be every prisoner so confined in a cell for more than twenty-four hours,
whether as a punishment or otherwise, shall be visited at least once a day by the
Medical Officer or Medical Subordinate.
COMMENT
Solitary confinement.- Any harsh isolation from society by long, lonely,
cellular detention is penal and so must be inflicted only consistently with fair
procedure, in such cases written consent and immediately report to higher authority
are the least if abuse is to be tabooed. [Sunil Barta v. Delhi Administration, 1980 Cri
Lj 1099 at 1115 (SC) : AIR 1980 SC 1579 : (1980) 2 SCR 577 : (1980) 4 SCC 488].
30. Prisoners under sentence of death.—(1) Every prisoner under sentence
of death shall, immediately on his arrival in the prison after sentence, be searched by,
or by order of, the Jailor and all articles shall be taken from him which the Jailor
deems it dangerous or inexpedient to leave in his possession.
(2) Every such prisoner shall be confined in a cell apart from all other
prisoners, and shall be placed by day and by night under the charge of a guard.