Tuesday 22 November 2011
History of Tihar Jail
Prior to 1958, a small Jail was located at Delhi Gate area of Delhi. In 1958, the prison was transferred from Delhi Gate to a site on the land of Tihar Village in western part of New Delhi. In the beginning, only one Central Jail was commissioned with the lodging capacity of 1273 prisoners.
Till 1966, the administrative control of Delhi Jails was with the Government of the state of Punjab. The same was transferred to the Delhi Administration, Delhi in 1966. There was applicability of Punjab Jail manual on Delhi Jails upto April 1988 when Delhi Jail Manual was drafted and came into force. There was no full-fledged post of Inspector General of Delhi Prisons till March 1986 and this work was being additionally shouldered by the Dy. Commissioner, Delhi. In 1986, the full fledged post of Inspector General was created and was headed by a senior IPS officer. The prison population gradually grew and consequently new jails were constructed as reflected below:
| 1958 | Central Jail commissioned at Tihar with a sanctioned capacity of 1273 prisoners |
| 1980 | District Jail constructed with a sanctioned capacity to lodge 740 prisoners |
| 1984-85 | The existing Central jail was trifurcated during this period as Central Jail No.1, 2 & 3 having sanctioned capacity for each jail as 565, 455 & 740 prisoners respectively. |
| 1990 | District Jail was elevated to Central Jail and designated as Central Jail No. 4 |
| 1996 | Central Jail No.5 commissioned with a sanctioned capacity of 750 prisoners for keeping adolescents inmates (between the age group of 18 to 21 years) |
| 2000 | Central Jail No.6 commissioned for exclusively lodging 400 female prisoners |
| 2003 | Central Jail No.7 commissioned for lodging 350 prisoners |
| 2004 | District Jail, Rohini commissioned for lodging 1050 prisoners |
| 2005 | Central Jail No. 8&9 commissioned for lodging 600 prisoners each |
Prison Statistics & Classification of Prison Population(as on 30th April 2009)
Total Capacity | Prison Population |
Male | Female | Total | Male | Female | Total |
5850 | 400 | 6250 | 11259 | 479 | 11738 |
Male | Female | |
| Convicts | 2023 | 71 |
| Undertrials | 9212 | 408 |
| Detenues | 19 | 0 |
| Others | 5 | 0 |
| Total | 11259 | 479 |
| TOTAL | 11738 | |
Age wise Classification of Prisoners (as on 30th April 2009)
Male | Female | |
| 18 - 21 years | 1199 | 25 |
| 21 - 30 years | 5893 | 110 |
| 30 - 50 years | 3593 | 273 |
| 50 - 65 Years | 516 | 59 |
| 65 and above | 58 | 12 |
| Total | 11259 | 479 |
| TOTAL | 11738 | |
Foreign Prisoners (as on 30th April 2009)
Male | Female | |
| Convict | 71 | 2 |
Undertrials | 318 | 75 |
Others (Civil & Detenues) | 13 | 0 |
| Total | 402 | 77 |
| TOTAL | 479 | |
classification of Undertrials as per the Length of stay in Jail (as on 30th April 2009)
PERIOD | Male | Female |
| Upto 01 month | 1872 | 97 |
| 01 - 03 months | 1778 | 65 |
| 03 - 06 months | 1502 | 22 |
| 06 - 12 months | 1225 | 59 |
| 12 - 24 months | 1318 | 69 |
| 24 - 36 months | 839 | 36 |
| 36 - 48 months | 370 | 21 |
| 48 - 60 months | 190 | 27 |
| Above 60 months | 118 | 12 |
| Total | 9212 | 408 |
| TOTAL | 9620 | |
Classification of Convict Prisoners as per term of imprisonment (as on 30th April 2009)
| PERIOD | Male | Female |
| Upto 01 month | 48 | 0 |
| 01 - 03 months | 61 | 0 |
| 03 - 06 months | 78 | 0 |
| 06 - 12 months | 83 | 1 |
| 01 - 02 years | 112 | 2 |
| 02 - 05years | 204 | 15 |
| 05 - 10 years | 482 | 10 |
| Above 10 years | 248 | 8 |
| Life sentence | 695 | 35 |
| Death sentence | 12 | 0 |
| Total | 2023 | 71 |
| TOTAL | 2094 | |
