Chandigarh, April 30 -- The Punjab government is likely to table a new Prisons Bill in the one-day special assembly session on May 1, aiming to replace the colonial-era Prisons Act, 1894, to overhaul the state's prison administration.

The new legislation, modelled on the Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act, 2023, prepared by the Union home ministry, will mark a significant shift to a reformative and technology-driven correctional system, aligning prison management with modern security needs and human rights standards.

According to a senior Punjab government official, the existing legal framework, rooted in the 1894 law, is outdated, custodial in nature and lacks focus on rehabilitation, transparency and emerging security challen...