The power dynamics of the Indian penal system clearly lays out the role of the oppressor and the oppressed. The state has complete control over the lives of those who have lost their liberty. Combine this with the failure of any monitoring systems and we have a perfect recipe for despair, torture and ill treatment. An upcoming report by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, titled ‘Looking into the Haze: A Study on Prison Monitoring in India’ finds that not even 1% of the jails are being monitored according to law. This means of 1387 jails in the country, less than 13 are properly supervised. More