Supreme Court of India Justice Vikram Nath delivered a thought-provoking keynote address at an international legal symposium examining the human rights of incarcerated mothers and their dependent children, asserting that prison barracks cannot serve as nurseries. Speaking alongside Bombay High Court Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and international human rights jurists, Justice Nath underscored the profound psychological and developmental trauma inflicted on young children raised behind prison bars. He called for urgent statutory reforms to prioritize non-custodial sentencing and community supervision for pregnant women and primary caregivers.
Justice Nath urged judicial magistrates to exercise compassionate discretion when evaluating bail applications for female undertrial prisoners with young infants, ensuring children are not penalized for alleged parental offenses. The jurist recommended establishing dedicated, child-friendly external childcare facilities, specialized nutritional interventions, and uninterrupted pediatric healthcare for children residing in correctional institutions. Legal scholars and prison reform advocates commended the address, emphasizing that safeguarding early childhood development within the justice system represents an indispensable constitutional imperative.
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Sources:
https://www.livelaw.in/amp/news-updates/justice-vikram-nath-addresses-global-forum-on-mothers-in-detention-and-their-children-556812