Supreme Court to Probe Pregnancy Cases in Bengal Jails

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has decided to address the concerning issue of women prisoners in West Bengal becoming pregnant while in custody, as reported by PTI. This decision comes after the matter was raised in the Calcutta High Court on Thursday.

Tapas Kumar Bhanja, a lawyer appointed as amicus curiae in a 2018 case regarding overcrowding in jails, brought attention to the issue, stating that female inmates were getting pregnant while incarcerated. He highlighted that approximately 196 babies were born in various correctional facilities across West Bengal. Bhanja proposed implementing a prohibition on male staff entering areas where women prisoners are held to prevent such incidents.

Taking serious note of the matter, a division bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Supratim Bhattacharya scheduled it for hearing before a division bench specializing in criminal cases.

In response, the Supreme Court bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Ahsanuddin Amanullah assigned senior advocate Gaurav Agrawal to investigate the issue and submit a report.