MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday took a serious view of the Tamil Nadu Government's failure to establish an open-air prison for women, despite amending the prison rules in 2021 to make women prisoners eligible for the facility.

When the State cited a lack of funds and the number of women prisoners being less as reasons for not establishing an open-air prison, the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Suhrut Aravind Dharmadhikari and Justice P Velmurugan criticised the stand, observing that providing essential facilities for citizens was the government's responsibility.

The court also referred to a Government Order on September 3, 2021, amending Rule 797 of the Tamil Nadu Prison Rules to make women prisoners eligible for confinement in open-air prisons.

At this juncture, the petitioner's counsel, R Alugumani, drew the court's attention to the Supreme Court judgment in Suhas Chakma v. Union of India case, dated February 26, 2026, which directed all States and Union Territories to ensure access to Open Correctional Institutions (OCIs) for women prisoners, including establishing dedicated facilities wherever necessary. He also referred to the Supreme Court's observation that OCIs embodied the constitutional promise by recognising that trust, responsibility and graded liberty were essential for meaningful reform.

Petitioner KR Raja, an advocate and prisoners' rights activist from Madurai, stated in his petition that the state government had established three open-air prisons for male prisoners, which allowed them to engage in productive activities, maintain family ties and gradually reintegrate into society. These facilities also helped reduce idleness, mental stress and psychological distress while keeping inmates physically and mentally fit.

However, women prisoners continued to be deprived of these rehabilitation opportunities despite the 2021 amendment, he said.

Citing the dedicated Inclusive Open-air Camps in Rajasthan, Raja argued that women prisoners were also allowed to live with their families in open-air camps. These halfway houses had changed the scenario of prison discipline, as prisoners became more rule-abiding and relaxed, since living with their families was the greatest temptation for a prisoner, he said.

These open camps could be considered beneficial 'missing links' in the correctional process and served as 'halfway homes' or 'transit homes' between closed institutionalised treatment and free society, he pointed out. Taking note of these observations, the court directed the state government to file its response within two weeks.