The sole purpose of the criminal justice system is to maintain order in society by defining, enforcing and solidifying the boundary between acceptable and deviant forms of social behavior. However, when repeat offenders continue to be convicted for the same crime, it casts a blameworthy shadow on the performance of the law enforcement agencies.

In the country’s largest province, Punjab, the number of prisoners and detainees across 43 jails has increased to an alarming level. With 68,000 inmates crammed into facilities holding a capacity of only 37,500 prisoners, jails are overcrowded by 81 per cent of their capacity. Contributing to the overcrowded conditions are repeat offenders, who in the absence of proper behavior modification keep ending up in jail after completing their initial sentence.

“Approximately 7 per cent of released prisoners are convicted again for the same crime. These repeat offenders are often individuals struggling with drug addiction or smuggling, theft, robbery, begging, and other forms of misdemeanours,” revealed Inspector General (IG) Prisons Mian Farooq Nazir.

According to Dr Shahzad Tahir, a psychologist at a private facility, the lack of effective counselling and behavior modification of detainees in jails was a primary reason behind many choosing to fall back into crime soon after release. “Until or unless prisoners are properly trained and counselled in jails, they will not become respectable members of society,” said Dr Tahir.

To address the issue of repeat offenders, Nazir suggested that the government should consider keeping repeat drug addicts, prisoners, and detainees in reform homes instead of sending them to jails. “This will help rehabilitate them into useful members of society and will also reduce the burden on the jail system,” observed Nazir.

Elaborating on the burden in jails, Punjab Home Secretary Noorul Amin Mengal was of the opinion that delays in court decisions and the slow pace of case disposal were major reasons behind the overcrowded conditions in jails.

“The amendment to the Control of Narcotics Substances Act 1997 in 2022 has led to a significant increase in the number of under-trial prisoners in drug cases. According to the law, releasing prisoners on parole also reduces the crowding of prisoners. Under this law, prisoners who exhibit good character and behaviour are relocated to areas 200 to 300 kilometers away from their native districts, where they are supervised by responsible officers. Furthermore, in cases of accidental crime, where an individual has committed a crime unintentionally, the court has the option to assign community service, taking into account the accused person’s education and abilities,” affirmed Mengal, who further revealed that the Punjab Home Department was taking proactive steps by constructing three new jails, which will collectively provide accommodation to 1,500 prisoners by June 2025.

On the other hand, Former Additional IG of Punjab Police, Muhammad Azam Joya emphasized that the investigation process in the police had to be improved in order to curb the rising number of detainees in jails.

“The Station House Officers (SHOs) of police stations often register cases of minor crimes simply to demonstrate their performance, rather than focusing on genuine law enforcement. When these people go to jail, they often create a new world of crime. Until or unless the police begin to view themselves as an institution of reform, the population of jails will continue to expand and repeat offenders will keep cycling in and out of prisons,” forewarned Joya.