Panaji, The Goa assembly has passed a bill making possession of mobile phones and other prohibited electronic gadgets inside prisons a non-bailable offence, carrying up to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of ₹ 25,000.
It also provides for reporting the release of high-risk, hardened or habitual offenders after completion of their sentences, undertrials released on bail and inmates temporarily released on parole or furlough to the district Superintendent of Police concerned for monitoring. Prison authorities would gather intelligence, monitor inmates and analyse information in coordination with the State Police Intelligence Wing. The proposed legislation covers prison management, prisoner discipline and security, contraband control, rehabilitation, skill development, vocational training, human rights and correctional services.
The sentence for the offence will commence after the prisoner completes the term already being served, as per the Goa Prisons and Correctional Services Bill, 2026, tabled in the assembly on Tuesday. The bill draws from the Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act, 2023, circulated by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, and seeks to consolidate prison-related laws while introducing reformatory measures and protecting prisoners’ basic human rights.
Any sentence imposed on a prisoner under these provisions would run after completion of the sentence already being served, according to the bill.
