Change in definition of justice

justice among Indian citizens has changed in three stages from “justice as unequal casts”, to
“justice as providing minimums for the masses” and recently to “justice as increasing
capabilities”
Gentle justice
Gentle justice refers to gentle way of punishment e.g. open prisons. An open prison (open
jail) is any jail in which the prisoners are trusted to serve their sentences with minimal
supervision and perimeter security and are often not locked up in their prison cells. Prisoners
may be permitted to take up employment while serving their sentence. In open prisons
offenders are treated in a humane way with the objective of bringing malefactors in line with
the accepted social norms.
Contemporary society
Contemporary society refers to A contemporary society is defined as a setting characterized
by technological. innovation and increasing human interconnection and globalization. It
brings about. changes such as increased life expectancy, literacy and gender equality,
economic liberization etc. or in other words it means existing at the same time or
Contemporary Indian society
India is a nation of numerous ethnic gatherings, more than 1,650 communicated in dialects,
lingos, local varieties—a place where there is heap tongues—various methods of attire and
innumerable quirks. Generally, the mainland size of the nation represents the varieties and
decent varieties. Also, there are numerous religions, groups and convictions. Now and again
the wide contrasts appear to prevail, and the resultant disharmony is viewed by numerous
individuals as irremediable, a marvel that the 100 crore individuals (our own is the second
most crowded nation) need to live with, in any case. The skeptics even view the Indian
individuals as factious, regularly at each other's throat, censuring others as though they were
ingrained adversaries holding beyond reconciliation thoughts and buying in to standards very
surprising from theirs. Be that as it may, the individuals who adhere to this impression
overlook an indispensable factor there is an essential solidarity which goes through the Indian
standard of life and thought. There is a conventional culture which is really oriental and
which adjusts to the lessons and statutes of our holy people and sages. Culture and
civilisation are as a matter of fact hard to characterize, however both these mean certain
recognizable patterns and attributes of character, particularly restriction, thought for other
people and a high level of resistance. The absence of culture ends up clear even from the
language and the vernacular one uses, the lead and way of living, one's signals in public
activity, the propensity to have a shut personality, with entryways and windows close as
though to forbid the inflow of crisp thoughts and different perspectives. Each procedure of
rejection sells out absence of culture, similarly as each pattern demonstrating an eagerness to
expand one's viewpoint demonstrates an excellent social quality. A similar thought is
frequently placed in various words: static culture conceives rot, similarly as dynamism
guarantees survival.
Gentle justice in comparative Indian society
Indian prisons are overcrowded and understaffed. Unless these issues are dealt with, prisons
will remain hellish for the socio-economically disadvantaged. According to the Prison
Statistics India 2015 report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), India’s prisons
are overcrowded with an occupancy ratio of 14% more than the capacity. More than two-
thirds of the inmates are undertrials. Chhattisgarh and Delhi are among the top three in the
list with an occupancy ratio of more than double the capacity. The prisons are overcrowded
by 77.9% in Meghalaya, by 68.8% in Uttar Pradesh and by 39.8% in Madhya Pradesh. In
absolute numbers, UP had the highest number of undertrials (62,669), followed by Bihar
(23,424) and Maharashtra (21,667). In Bihar, 82% of prisoners were undertrials, the highest
among states. Solution to this problem is gentle justice e.g. open prisons, pretrial settlement.
Open prisons can help in many ways like consider this scenario A man’s daughter is raped.
The man murders the rapist to avenge the crime. He is put in jail to serve a life sentence. The
man is a murderer alright, but to what extent is he a threat to society now that he has no
motive to kill. Very low, according to prison research here open prison plays an important
role as this is the objective of open prisons providing most favourable condition for
rehabilitation of some selected prisoners as there is no physical security provided against
escape and inmates. We need these types of gentle methods of justice urgently as the fact
remains that overcrowding is a pressing issue involving the “violation of human rights”, to
quote the Supreme Court. Adopting the concept of open prisons--or “gentle justice” where
eligible convicts could be allowed to work within the jail premises during the day, or in a
factory after making special arrangements for their secured transport, which would free up
scarce resources, in terms of funds as well as staff. It helps in changing mindsets like The
term ‘open prison’ is paradoxical in nature. For common folk, it’s rather difficult to
comprehend. One can’t blame a layperson for apprehensions about convicts after all.
Glorified over the years as diabolical structures, mainly through mainstream cinema, prisons
are considered to house vile creatures. Shackled behind bars, dressed in white with distinct
black stripes and fed once a day in decrepit utensils, such creatures are depicted as unfit to go
back into society. “How can a prison be open? Murderers, rapists, kidnappers… you find all
sorts of criminals in jails. It’s better they stay behind bars. Society is safe that way. They
shouldn’t be moved out, else they will commit such crimes again this the response of the
society in general. Clearly, the mindset in society is to eliminate criminals, not crime. And
this is where gentle justice like open prison can catalyse a change. An open prison, if defined,
has relatively less stringent rules as compared to controlled jails. They go by many names
such as ‘minimum-security prison’, ‘open-air camps’, etc. She believes that inmates in closed
prisons have already spent so much time in jail that, if and when set free, they would hold
their freedom very dear and, hence, wouldn’t indulge in any form of violence or miscreant
activities outside. “They maintain a good track record inside the prison, so that they can be
transferred to the open prison. They know that any form of deviation from the required
behaviour would land them back behind bars,” she explains. The road to an open prison,
however, comes with its own riders. A minimum of five years inside the closed prison, good
conduct and seniority in terms of the case are determinants of a convict’s fate. Explaining the
eligibility criteria, Kashyap of Tihar Jail says, “The eligibility criteria is what has been laid
under the notified rules. Certain category of people can be shifted to semi-open and open jails
once they have met those criteria.” But there is a catch. The shift is not a one-time,
irrevocable kind of privilege, which, in turn, ensures that convicts maintain good behaviour
lest they be sent back to the closed prison. “If they are found to be misusing the privilege or
engaging in any misconduct, they can be sent back to the closed prison. It is a revocable
privilege. In the past, one convict was sent back after he was found in possession of certain
contraband items such as a liquor bottle and a mobile phone,” Kashyap says. What’s
heartening is that there has been only one such case of misconduct in the two facilities since
they became functional at Tihar Jail. Even other open prisons in the country such as those in
Sanganer (Rajasthan) and Swatantrapur (Maharashtra)—the oldest in the country—have
witnessed only a handful of such incidents till date. “After spending a significant period
behind bars, convicts have lost so much time that they are naturally reformed,” says a 56-
year-old inmate of the semi-open prison at Tihar Jail, who spent over a decade in the closed
prison. “At the end of the day, no prison or institution can reform me if I don’t want to change
myself. The curtailment of freedom, the inability to see your children… this changes you as a
human being. So whatever chance of repentance you are given, you don’t want to let it go,”
says the inmate who did not want to be named. But this is not it ever coin has two sides if
there is positive aspects of gentle justice like open prison it has limitations too While open
prisons seem to be useful in some areas, it has some disadvantages too.Since some prisoners
are allowed to set up their livelihood in and around the prisons and also stay with their family,
they later refuse to move out of the place as it became a cost-free shelter for tahem in a prime
location. There were other reasons for staying in also, as they get emotionally attached to the
place. They also want stability in the education of their children, all of which will be affected
if they relocate.The undertrial prisoners, who are often falsely implicated into cases and have
to go through the ordeals of the police and courts do not have access to these prisons. Rather,
they are more in need of such prisons as it will provide a conducive environment for
confession, inquiry and also reformation. This is specially in case of undertrial women, sick
and juveniles who are more vulnerable to abuse.