Indian Penal Code, 1860
Section 73
repealedSolitary confinement
Whenever any person is convicted of an offence for which under this Code the Court has power to sentence him to rigorous imprisonment, the Court may, by its sentence, order that the offender shall be kept in solitary confinement for any portion or portions of the imprisonment to which he is sentenced, not exceeding three months in the whole, according to the following scale, that is to say: a time not exceeding one month if the term of imprisonment shall not exceed six months; a time not exceeding two months if the term of imprisonment shall exceed six months and shall not exceed one year; a time not exceeding three months if the term of imprisonment shall exceed one year.
Why this exists
Section 73 comes from the original 1860 Indian Penal Code, drafted under British colonial rule when solitary confinement was seen in English and European penology as both a punishment and a supposed tool for reform through isolation. Lawmakers worried that judges might overuse this harsh measure, so they built in a sliding scale of maximum periods (one, two, or three months) tied to the length of the sentence, ensuring solitary confinement stayed a limited add-on rather than the main punishment.
How courts read it
In Sunil Batra v. Delhi Administration (1978), the Supreme Court examined solitary confinement and prison isolation practices, holding that such measures must be applied sparingly, with due process, and cannot be used in a manner that amounts to cruel or inhuman treatment violating Article 21 of the Constitution. Courts have since treated Section 73 as an exceptional power, to be invoked only with clear judicial reasoning and never as a routine part of sentencing.
Common misconceptions
- Myth: Courts can order solitary confinement for as long as they want.
Fact: The law fixes strict maximum limits — one, two, or three months — depending on the total length of the sentence, and courts must justify using it at all. - Myth: Solitary confinement under Section 73 can be applied to any prison sentence.
Fact: It only applies where the offence carries the possibility of rigorous imprisonment, not to simple imprisonment sentences.