Vinod M Jain
The Department of Prisons and Correctional Services, Karnataka, and the National Law School of India University (NLSIU),Bengaluru,have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen legal aid,prisoner welfare and prison reforms in the state.
The MoU was signed on Friday at the Prisons Headquarters in Bengaluru.
Under the agreement,NLSIU’s Criminal Justice Clinic, through its lawyers,students and researchers,will identify elderly prisoners and inmates suffering from serious ailments and assist in facilitating their release.
The clinic will also organise legal aid camps in prisons and provide pro bono legal representation to marginalised accused persons in custody.
Another key component of the MoU is assistance to the Prisons Department in drafting a policy for the premature release of elderly and terminally ill prisoners, pursuant to the Supreme Court’s judgment in NALSA vs Union of India (W.P. No.165/2025).
NLSIU will further assist the department in research and drafting of laws and policies relating to prisons in Karnataka and support capacity-building programmes for para-social workers, convict lawyers and lawyers working in prisons.
The university will also collaborate with the department on other initiatives aimed at prison reforms.It will train and provide adequate supervision to prison staff and students involved in carrying out these activities.
The MoU was signed in the presence of Alok Kumar,IPS, Director General of Police,Prisons and Correctional Services,Karnataka,Advocate Ragini Ahuja,Co-Director, Criminal Justice Clinic,NLSIU,and P.V.Anand Reddy, AIG of Prisons,Prison Headquarters, Bengaluru.
