PANAJI
The Goa government has notified the first amendment to the Goa Prisons Rules, 2021, introducing key changes to clarify the definition of ‘habitual offender’ and reinforce protections against caste-based discrimination within prisons and correctional institutions.
The changes were published as the Goa Prisons (First Amendment) Rules, 2025 with a major revision made to Rule 2(1)(aa), which now redefines a "habitual offender" as a person who, within a continuous period of five years, has been convicted and sentenced to imprisonment more than twice for offences committed on separate occasions that are not part of the same transaction.
The rule further clarifies that any period spent in prison, either under detention or serving a sentence, will not be counted in the five-year window.
In another addition, the amendment inserts a new Rule 302-A titled ‘Prohibition of caste-based discrimination in Prisons and Correctional Institutions’ that mandates no classification, segregation or discriminatory treatment of prisoners based on caste, including in the allocation of prison duties or work.
“It shall be strictly ensured that there is no discrimination/ classification/segregation of prisoners on the basis of their caste. It shall be strictly ensured that there is no discrimination of prisoners in allotment of any duty/work in prisons on the basis of their caste. The provisions of ‘the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013’ shall have a binding effect even in Prisons and Correctional Institutions. Manual scavenging or hazardous cleaning of a sewer or a septic tank inside a prison shall not be permitted,” it added.
