Prisons Act, 1894

The Prisons Act, 1894 is the foundational law governing how prisons in Pakistan are run, covering prison administration, the duties of prison officers, how prisoners are treated, and offences relating to prisons.

Section 4 requires the Provincial Government to provide prison accommodation that complies with the Act's requirements on separating prisoners, and Section 5 provides for an Inspector-General to have general control and superintendence of all prisons in a province. Chapter III (Sections 8-23) sets out the duties of prison staff generally, and specifically for the Superintendent (Sections 11-12), the Medical Officer (Sections 13-15, including a duty to report on the death of a prisoner), and the Jailer (Sections 16-20), while Sections 9-10 prohibit officers from having business dealings with prisoners or holding an interest in prison contracts, to prevent corruption.

Chapter IV (Sections 24-26) covers admission of prisoners, including examining them and recording their effects on admission, and their removal and discharge. Chapter V (Sections 27-30) governs prison discipline, including separation of different classes of prisoners, rules on association and segregation, solitary confinement, and special provisions for prisoners under sentence of death. Chapter VI (Sections 31-33) addresses food, clothing, and bedding for civil prisoners and unconvicted criminal prisoners (i.e., those not yet found guilty), including limits on transferring food and clothing between certain categories of prisoners.

Chapter VII (Sections 34-36) covers employment of civil and criminal prisoners, including those serving simple imprisonment. Chapter VIII (Sections 37-39) covers prisoners' health, including how medical officers' directions are recorded and hospital arrangements. Chapter IX (Sections 40-41) governs visits to civil and unconvicted criminal prisoners and the search of visitors.

Chapters X and XI (Sections 42-54) create offences relating to prisons, such as introducing or removing prohibited articles or unauthorized communication with prisoners (Section 42, with power to arrest under Section 43), and "prison-offences" -- breaches of discipline by prisoners themselves -- with associated punishments (Sections 45-54), including provisions on the procedure for committal of a heinous offence and a section on whipping (Section 53) as a form of punishment. Because whipping as a punishment has been addressed by later legislation (a separate Abolition of the Punishment of Whipping Act exists in Pakistani law), and because this Act dates to 1894 with extensive amendment history (shown by numerous footnotes referencing Adaptation Orders and provincial amendments through 1981), the current validity and content of specific provisions like Section 53 should be checked against up-to-date official text rather than assumed from this extract.

Section 59 gives the Provincial Government rule-making power covering a long list of prison administration matters, including classification and separation of prisoners, disposal of proceeds of prisoners' labour, confinement in fetters, rewards for good conduct, and transfer of prisoners between provinces.