A.P.CHOWDHRI, J. - (1.) THIS criminal writ petition has been filed by 22 persons who were convicted for different offences by different Courts of the State. They are inmates of Borstal Institution, Ludhiana. They filed the present petition for issuing of an appropriate writ or direction to the jail authorities, firstly that the petitioners be given Better Class facilities and secondly, they may not be transferred to an ordinary jail from the aforesaid Borstal Institution.
(2.) A detailed reply has been filed on behalf of the respondents. It has been stated that on account of the training imparted and the education given to the petitioners, they had become entitled to B. Class facilities and all those facilities were being given to them. It was further stated that the age group of persons who are supposed to be kept in Borstal Institution was 16 to 21. Except petitioner at Serial No. 20, the remaining petitioners had crossed the age of 21 and were required to be transferred to other jails in accordance with the decision of the Government Annexure Rl. It was further stated that petitioner No. 13 had already been released on bail on 24.5.1989 and qua him the petition should be disposed of as infructuous. The main relief sought by the petitioners, namely the granting of B Class facilities stands extended to them. The learned counsel for the petitioners has no grievance on this count.
(3.) THE sole question surviving for consideration is whether the Superintendent Jail or any other authority has the power to transfer an inmate of the Borstal Institution to an ordinary jail. In order to answer this question, I have examined the scheme and various provisions of the Punjab Borstal Act, 1926 and the rules framed the reunder. Various provisions of the Act unmistakably show that the Borstal Institutions were established for persons less than 21 years of age. A reference in this connection may be made to sections 5, 8 and 10(2) of the said Act. The study further shows that there is a clear distinction between the Borstal Institution, on the one hand and the ordinary jail on the other. The Legislature took care to use different words in the context of Borstal Institutions, for instance, section 32 of the said Act, while making Chapter XI of the Prisons Act, 1894 applicable to Borstal Institutions, took care that all references to prisoners, imprisonment or confinement in the said Chapter shall be construed as referring to inmates, Borstal Institutions and detentions, Section 20 is very significant and may be reproduced in extenso as under :- "Incorrigibles. Where an inmate is reported to the State Government by the visiting committee to be incorrigible or to be exercising a bad influence on the other inmates of the institution or is convicted under section 19 of this Act or is reported by the Superintendent to have committed an offence which has been declared to be major Borstal Institution offence by rules made by the State Government in pursuance of the provisions of subsection (14) of section 34 of this Act, the State Government may commute the residue of the term of detention to such term of imprisonment of either description not exceeding such residue as the State Government may direct, and may order the transfer of the inmate to any jail in Punjab in order to complete the said term of imprisonment." A perusal of the above provision leaves no room for doubt that in the specified categories of inmates mentioned in the section and on a report made in this behalf, the State Government is empowered to commute the residue of the term of detention to a term of imprisonment of either description and it is only on such commutation being ordered that the inmate can be transferred to any jail in the State to complete the said term of imprisonment. There is no provision in the Act or the rules framed thereunder that on attaining an age exceeding 21, the inmate shall be liable to be transferred to an ordinary prison. Section 32-A inserted by amendment of 1982 shows that an inmate can be transferred from one Borstal Institution to another Borstal Institution either in the same State or in any other State. This also confirms the conclusion that an inmate of the Borstal Institution cannot be transferred to an ordinary jail. Rule 11 of the Punjab Borstal Rules lays down that where an adolescent offender has been directed by a competent Court to be detained in a Borstal Institution, but for whom accommodation is not immediately available in any of the Borstal Institutions in the State, he may be sent for detention to the adolescent jail or if the same is full to the nearest Central or District Jail where he shall be detained in the ward reserved for adolescents and treated as far as possible as an inmate of a Borstal Institution till accommodation becomes available in any such institution. This provision shows that care has been taken to segregate adolescent offenders under the age of 21 from other criminals and the scheme and purpose of the Act is to train, educate and reform the young offenders so as to make them useful members of the society rather than give them up as permanently lost to society. There are provisions made regarding training and education of the inmates of the Borstal Institutions. Rule 20 of the Rules provides for education and industrial training of the inmates. Rule 21 makes a provision for physical drill and gymnastics. These features are very different from the usual prison. The result of the above discussion is that once an offender is directed to be detained in a Borstal institution, he can be sent to an ordinary jail only if his case is covered under one or more of the categories mentioned in section 20 and on a reference in this behalf, the State Government commutes the remaining period of detention to a term of imprisonment. It is only on such a commutation that the inmate can be transferred to an ordinary jail. It may also be mentioned that section 35 of the Act empowers the State Government to vary the upper age limit of the inmates of the Borstal Institution from 21 to 23 for purpose of sections 5, 6 and 8 thereof.;