The Kerala High Court has ruled that geographical restrictions on prisoners' visits to their relatives, while accompanied by police escorts, do not violate the fundamental rights of prisoners.

According to the Kerala Prisons and Correctional Services (Management) Act, 2010, prisoners who are otherwise ineligible for parole can have 24-hour visits to immediate relatives under police escort once every six months.

However, these visits are restricted to within the state of Kerala, except in cases of an immediate family member's death.

Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas stated that this restriction doesn't discriminate between prisoners but merely limits visits within state boundaries.

The rule doesn't deny visits based on the prisoner's birthplace, and even Kerala-born prisoners can't have escorted visits outside the state. The court dismissed the petitioner's argument that this restriction infringes upon his fundamental rights, citing practical difficulties in managing escorted visits across state lines.

The court emphasized that such geographical restrictions are based on sound policy and don't offend any constitutional mandates ¹.