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Human rights are the foundation of a dignified life. The constitution of India guarantees basic human rights to every citizen of the country. Human rights violations have been a much-debated topic all over the world. But when it comes to the persons who have committed crimes without any intention, without any criminal background, or out of sudden provocation, that person is ultimately dumped under the ‘ criminal ‘ tag. Here, society gets satisfaction from the maximum punishment given to the offender. No one is born a offender or antisocial. But the circumstantial pressure, the surroundings, and, most importantly, the society give birth to prisoners – the so called ‘criminals’. Then the same society wants to kill the offenders, not the crime.
Nowadays, through reformative justice, a new era focusing on the reduction of crimes rather than offenders is gaining popularity. Even though a person is put in prison, he or she still has all the human rights, such as the right to education, the right to work, the right to life, etc. More than that, giving a petty offender the opportunity to correct a mistake is something that helps them return to their normal lives. Alternative measures should be used as much as possible instead of custodial measures as part of reformative justice. Alternative measures include de-addiction centres, employment therapy centres, rehabilitation centres, etc. The Probation of Offenders Act of 1958 aims to provide offenders the opportunity to recover the values they have lost rather than becoming hardened criminals. Probation of offenders helps them gain a sense of self-worth, self-esteem, optimism, and a vision for the future under the supervision of probation officers by creating a healthy relationship between them.
Probation works through non-custodial correction of the offender. It addresses the crime as a mental illness. Rather than punishing, it emphasizes the circumstances that led a particular person to commit the crime, focuses on the question of why (s)he did that, and the depth of the crime, and decides whether the particular person can be sent for probation. As per Section 360 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973, any person under the age of twenty-one who has not been convicted of an offence punishable by imprisonment up to seven years or death or life imprisonment can be released on probation for a period of time for good conduct. This helps the youngsters shape their own lives rather than being abused or being a culprit during incarceration.
Today, internationally and nationally, there are many organizations and NGOs in the field of probation. The United Nations standard minimum rules for non-custodial measures (the Tokyo rules of 1988) were an important step that made society aware of their responsibility for a crime. The World Congress on Probation and Parole is historically held every two years. It brings together experts, researchers, and practitioners around the world to promote probation. In India, when we look back into history, the Malimath committee report on criminal justice suggested alternatives to punishment, such as probation, community services, and rehabilitation. Mulla Committee Report 1983 argued for a separate court for young offenders.
In the famous case Musakhan v. State of Maharashtra (AIR 1976 SC 2566), it was held that the effective use of probation is an integral part of CJS. In different states of India, there are many projects under probation services, such as the “Nervazhi’ and ‘Jeevanam’ schemes of Kerala, which identify the eligible victims or offenders for probation and provide them medical, legal aid, etc.; and in Telangana, ‘unnati ‘ is a cognitive behavioural change programme to reform the prisoners within and return them to society in a reformed state. PATTAM (personality and attitude transformation through therapeutic assistance and management) in Tamil Nadu aims to reintegrate the offenders into society as responsible members. Apart from this, as a part of providing the best humane conditions for the prisoners, a programme has been launched in coordination with the ministry of human resource development, the government of India, and the educational department of Tamil Nadu to achieve 100% literacy among the TN prison inmates. In Delhi, a digitalized library with e-learning materials is also provided to the prisoners. All the measures mentioned above give due importance to the education, health, and employment of the offenders, while keeping their human rights intact.
Prisons are meant to be rehabilitation centres rather than punishment centres. But in some cases, the prisoners are subjected to inhuman cruelties and abuses. Custodial deaths are alarming. Encounter killings are on the rise. In the case of Sunil Batra vs. Delhi Administration ((1978)4 SCC 409), the court gave a very obvious answer to the question about the fundamental rights of the prisoners and considering prisoners as persons. The young adults have a great chance to get slip into crimes. Many of them will have the tendency to do crimes because they are in criminal surroundings during their incarceration. Like Aung San Suu Kyi said, fundamental violations of their human rights always lead to people feeling less and less human. So, the best way to bring back the young adults is through probation, along with preserving their fundamental human rights.
Even though probation plays a major role in reforming society, it still faces many difficulties in its operation. Lack of awareness about probation among the society is the reason behind the society’s thoughts about maximizing punishment for offenders. Lack of probation officers, lack of updated offender’s act 1958 and 1960 rules that are based on outdated concepts, lack of support and technical issues, lack of supervisional authority to investigate whether the offenders benefitted from the probation, etc. are some of the problems faced by probation services.
Human rights and probation are two sides of the same coin. Probation is the best way to protect the human rights of the offenders and to provide humane conditions to nourish their own values. In other ways, they would have ended up being a prisoner .Instead of isolating in prison filled with negative charges, it’s really wise to re socialize the offenders without having them relapse into criminal behaviour patterns, thereby providing long-term protection for society.
