RIGHT TO PROCREATE IN JAIL?

Can a jail bar a prisoner from exercising his right to procreation in Haryana? This query was raised by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday. A Division Bench comprising Justice Rajan Gupta and Justice Karamjit Singh asked the state to reply while hearing a wife’s plea to have conjugal relations with her murderconvict husband. The petitioner-wife contended that her husband was convicted of murder and other offences by a Gurugram court on 30 May 2018. He is lodged in the Bhondsi district jail in Gurugram. Seeking a direction to the state and other respondents to permit conjugal relations with her husband, the petitioner contended that the right to procreation was alive even during incarceration. Her counsel contended the right could be traced to Article 21 of the Constitution, read with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It appeared, the Bench said, that in the case of “Jasvir Singh and another versus the State of Punjab and others” a question was framed whether the penology interest of the state permitted or ought to permit the creation of facilities to exercise the right to procreation during incarceration. Another issue before the court was whether the right could be termed as “right to life” and “personal liberty” guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. “As per the judgment, the answer appeared to be in the affirmative,” the Bench pointed out. The case will come up in March-end.

Man Mohan can be contacted at rovingeditor@gmail.com