Thursday’s Kerala High Court decision marks a win for prisoner welfare, as a bench of Justice Soumen Sen and Justice V.M. Shyam Kumar dismissed a PIL opposing the government’s wage escalation for jail labor. The upheld January 9 order catapults daily earnings from Rs 63-168 to Rs 530-620, projecting monthly hauls of Rs 15,000-18,600 atop free state services.
Challenger advocate A.K. Gopi decried it as fiscally absurd, positioning inmates ahead of outside workers per Supreme Court guidelines in the 1998 Gujarat case. There, justices clarified prison pay incentivizes, doesn’t compete, mindful of provided facilities to avoid economic superiority.
The petition invoked wage laws setting Rs 15,000 unskilled, Rs 15,720 semi-skilled, Rs 18,000 skilled baselines without extras, plus subpar local leader pay. Rejecting all, the court held prisoner adjustments standalone; others must lobby separately. Wages, it ruled, integral to rehab, linking effort to reintegration rewards.
This outcome spotlights rehabilitation’s primacy in penology, potentially influencing nationwide policy as courts prioritize reform over rigid wage comparisons.