High court upholds undertrial prisoner’s right to education

Nagpur: The Nagpur Bench of Bombay high court recently held that an undertrial prisoner cannot be deprived of education merely because of incarceration, directing authorities to allow a 69-year-old inmate lodged in Nagpur Central Prison to appear for LLB examination without imposing escort charges.A division bench comprising justices Urmila Joshi Phalke and Nivedita Mehta allowed a criminal writ petition filed by Purushottam Kumar Sinha, an undertrial prisoner and student of Dr BRA Law College affiliated to Nagpur University.The court directed Nagpur Central Prison authorities to escort the petitioner to the examination centre on scheduled dates without charging any fee. It also ordered the prison administration to deploy security personnel during travel and throughout the examination period.The bench instructed Dr BRA Law College to provide a separate hall and invigilator for the petitioner while permitting a security cordon around him during the examination.The petitioner had approached the court seeking permission to appear for the Summer 2026 LLB second-semester examination, arguing that exorbitant escort charges demanded by authorities effectively denied him access to education and violated his rights under Article 21 of the Constitution.As per the petition, Sinha secured admission to the three-year LLB course through MH-CET in 2022 and successfully completed his first-semester examination before his arrest in connection with a crime registered at Koradi police station. The court was informed that he was earlier unable to appear for examinations because of the heavy financial burden imposed towards escort arrangements.Petitioner's counsel NS Padia argued that denial of educational access due to inability to pay escort charges amounted to infringement of the prisoner's fundamental rights to education and dignity.The State opposed the plea, with public prosecutor SS Hulke contending that the petitioner had an alternate remedy of seeking temporary bail for appearing in the examination.Rejecting the objection, the court observed that incarceration alone could not become a reason to obstruct a prisoner's educational progress. "Because of this he should not be deprived from his educational career," the bench observed, adding that insisting on exorbitant escort charges would be harsh and unreasonable.# Key takeawaysUndertrial prisoner allowed to appear for LLB examinationCourt says incarceration cannot deprive a person of educationEscort charges for prison transport waivedCourt cites right to education and dignity under Article 21Separate examination hall and invigilator ordered for petitionerSecurity personnel to accompany the petitioner during examination periodState's objection regarding alternate bail remedy rejectedCourt says imposing exorbitant escort charges would be "harsh"