Beyond Bars: Electronic Monitoring And Justice In India
- IJLLR Journal
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
Siddhi Shah, GLS University, Ahmedabad
ABSTRACT
The use of electronic monitoring, especially ankle monitoring, in India’s criminal justice system is the primary focus of this paper. The monitoring is proposed as a reformative replacement of the traditional incarceration process. The paper outlines the global journey of this technology from its roots in psychological behavior studies in the 1960s to the point of getting employed in multiple jurisdictions like the US and the UK. The research is centered on India’s first steps towards electronic monitoring with an argument, supported by significant court cases and policy changes, for instance, the Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act, 2023 and the Supreme Court’s 2024 report advising pilot projects for GPS tracking of low- risk undertrials and parolees among the developments that are actually coming through. In particular, the paper employs a constitutional method of analysis to deal with the compatibility issue of electronic monitoring with the right to life, liberty, and privacy protected by Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. The paper goes thus far as to refer to landmark cases of Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India (1978) and Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017) for the interpretation. The writers concede that electronic monitoring can serve the purpose of public safety but can also become a source of prison overcrowding hence they recommend the observance of the principles of proportionality, fairness, and judicial oversight. It also gives the suggestion of developing new technology models that are both privacy- preserving and technically up-to-date and offers for instance, RF-based curfew systems and geofencing through which ethical and operational concerns can be resolved. Finally, the paper stands by its assertion that India’s ankle monitors are consistent with the country’s reformative idea of punishment which not only discourages criminals but also enables them to return to society under the condition that they remain accountable. In the case of having the entire process put in place with adequate legal backing, the monitoring being electronic will change India’s prison system into one that is both efficient and humane as well as compliant with the Constitution thereby meeting the requirements for public safety and human dignity side by side.
