Solitary Confinement

Solitary confinement was first introduced in America in the late 18th century, it wasn’t intended to be a punishment. In fact, solitary was first put into practice at U.S. prisons by a pacifist spiritual community called the Quakers, as part of an experiment to improve prison conditions and rehabilitate inmates. Whenever any person is convicted of an offence for which under this Code the Court has the power to sentence him to rigorous imprisonment, the Court may, by its sentence, order that the offender shall be kept in solitary confinement for any portion or portions of the imprisonment to which he is sentenced, not exceeding three months in the whole, according to the following scale, that is to say- 
                                                                a time not exceeding one month if the term of imprisonment shall not exceed six months;

a time not exceeding two months if the term of imprisonment shall exceed six months and shall not exceed one year;

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a time not exceeding three months if the term of imprisonment shall exceed one year.
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Meaning of Solitary Confinement:-
Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which an inmate is isolated from any human contact, with the exception of members of prison staff.

In India, the maximum period of solitary confinement is 3 months and it shall not exceed 14 days at a time. Relevant provisions of solitary confinement are sections 73 and 74 of Indian Penal Code, 1860.

Limit of solitary confinement:-
In executing a sentence of solitary confinement, such confinement shall in no case exceed fourteen days at a time, with intervals between the periods of solitary confinement of not less duration than such periods; and when the imprisonment awarded shall exceed three months, the solitary confinement shall not exceed seven days in any one month of the whole imprisonment awarded, with intervals between the periods of solitary confinement of not less duration than such periods.

This provision follows the principle that solitary confinement should be imposed only in intervals since it produces a direct impact on the mind of the person undergoing it.
Such confinement shall never be more than fourteen days at a stretch. The interval between the period of solitary confinement must not be less than such periods of such confinements.

In the case of imprisonment of more than three months, solitary confinement shall not be for more than seven days in any one month of the total imprisonment awarded. Here also the intervals between the periods of such confinement must not be less than such periods.

Indian landmark cases referring solitary confinement

• Unni Krishnan & Ors. v. State of Andhra Pradesh & Ors., 1993 SC

As per the order from Supreme Court "Right against solitary confinement" is one of the rights that fall under Article 21(Right to Life) of the Constitution. In this case, the Apex court declares that the right against solitary confinement falls under the Right to Life in Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.

• Sunil Batra v. Delhi Administration, 1979 SC

Supreme Court clearly explained that the solitary or single-cell confinement is prior for the rejection of the mercy petitions as like the other cases by the President of India, and that was unconstitutional. In this case, the solitary confinement was given under section 30 of subclass(2). Here the Supreme Court says that the results of long solitary confinement are disastrous to the physical and mental ill-health for those who are subjected to it. In this case, the court declares that the solitary confinement is abolished in the UK but it was still in practice in the U.S.A.

Here they declare there are some practice of solitary confinement.

• T.V. Vatheeswaran V State of Tamil Nadu SC 1983

In T.V. Vatheeswaran case, which the learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner and the learned Amicus Shri Ram Jethmalani were placed, the two-judge Bench considered whether the appellant, who was convicted for the offence of murder and was sentenced to death in January 1975 and was also kept in solitary confinement for 8 years along with the commutation of the death sentence. The Court already faced the consideration of the appellant's plea by making many observations. 

Constitutional arguments made against solitary confinement 

1. It violates the basic concept of common natural human dignity
2. It denies the basic human rights of the people
3. It causes many significant mental illnesses and physical pain and suffering
4. It is unnecessary in many of the cases