3. Definitions prescribed in rules made under the Prisons Act.
- In these rules unless, a different intention appears from the subject or context, the expression -(a)"Act" means the Prisons Act, 1894;(b)"Casual" in relation to prisoner means any convicted criminal prisoner who is not a habitual criminal;(c)"Central Jail" means any prison in which criminal convicted prisoners are received, for the purpose of undergoing their sentence, by transfer from any other jail and in which such prisoners are riot, when committed to prison, in the first instance are ordinarily received. Provided that no jail shall be deemed to be a central jail unless and until the State Government shall have declared it to be such;(d)"compartment" means any room, work-shop, godown or other covered, enclosed and protected place in a jail, other than a cell or ward;(e)"Convict" means a convicted criminal prisoner;(f)"District Jail" or "Medium Security Jail" means any prison to which prisoners from one or more districts are, in the first instance, ordinarily committed and includes every jail other than a central jail or a special jail;(g)"District Probation Officer" means an officer appointed as such by the State Government to look after the probation work in a District under Probation of Offenders Act, 1958.Note. - A temporary prison provided under Section 7 of the Prisons Act, would unless constituted a central or special jail, be a District Jail.(h)"Habitual criminal" means :(i)A person convicted of an offence whose previous conviction or convictions under Chapter XII, XVI, XVII or XVIII of the Indian Penal Code taken by itself or themselves or with the facts of the present case show that he habitually commits an offence or offences punishable under any or all of those chapters;(ii)any person committed to or detained in prison under section 122 (read with Section 109 or Section 110) of the Code of Criminal Procedure;(iii)any person convicted of any of the offences specified in sub- clause (i) above when it appears for the facts of the case even although no previous conviction as been proved, that he is by habit a member of gang of dacoits, smugglers or of thieves or involved in trafficking in women or narcotics or dealer in stolen property; and(iv)any person convicted by a Court or tribunal acting outside India under the general or special authority of Government of an offence which would have rendered him liable to be classified as a habitual criminal if he had been convicted by a Court established in India.Explanation. - For the purposes of this clause the word "conviction" shall include an order made under Section 117, read with Section 110, of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.Note 1. - The classification of a convicted person as a habitual criminal should ordinarily be made by the convicting Court, but if the convicting Court omits to do so, such classification may be made by the District Magistrate, in the absence of an order by the convicting Court or District Magistrate, and pending the result or a reference to the District Magistrate, by the officer incharge of the jail where such convicted person is confined. Any person classed as a habitual criminal may apply for a revision of the order.Note 2. - The convicting Court or the District Magistrate may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, direct that any convicted person or any person, committed to or detained in prison under Section 122, read with Section 109 or Section 110 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 shall not be classed as a habitual criminal and may review such direction.Note 3. - Convicting Courts or District Magistrates, as the case may be, may revise their own classification and the District Magistrate may alter any classification of a prisoner made by a convicting Court or any other authority provided that the alteration is made on the basis of facts which were not before such court or authority.Note 4. - The expression "District Magistrate" wherever it occurs in Notes 1,2 and 3 above means the District Magistrate of the district in which the criminal was convicted, committed or detained.Note 5. - Every habitual criminal shall as far as possible be confined in a special jail in which no prisoner other than habitual criminals shall be kept.Provided that the Inspector-General of Prisons may, transfer to this special jail any prisoner, not being a habitual criminal, whom, for reasons to be recorded in writing, he believes to be of so vicious or depraved a character and to exercise, or to be likely to exercise, so evil an influence on his fellow prisoners, that he ought not to be confined with other non- habitual prisoners, but a prisoner so transferred shall not otherwise be subject to the special rules affecting habitual criminals.Note 6 (a). - A habitual offender is defined in Section 2(3) of the Punjab Habitual Offenders (Control & Reforms) Act, 1952 as a person, who during any continuous period of five years, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, has been convicted and sentenced to imprisonment more than twice on account of any one or more of the offences committed on different occasions and not constituting parts of the same transaction; and(b)who has, as a result of such convictions, suffered imprisonment at least for a total period of twelve months.Explanation 1. - A conviction which has been set aside in appeal or revision and any imprisonment suffered in connection therewith shall not be taken into account for the above purpose; andExplanation 2. - In computing the period of five years, any periods spent in Jail either under a sentence of imprisonment or under detention shall not be taken into account.(i)"Inspector-General" means the Inspector-General of Prisons, Punjab;(j)"Juvenile" means a boy who has not attained the age of sixteen years; or a girl who has not attained the age of eighteen years;(k)"Maximum Security Prison" means any prison meant for confinement of dangerous, habituals, professionals, terrorists, organised and sophisticated types of criminals;(l)"Section" means a section of the Act;(m)"Special Jail" means any prison provided for the confinement of a particular class or classes of prisoners and classed as a Special Jail by the State Government;(n)"State" means the State of Punjab;(o)"Subordinate Officer" means and includes every officer of a prison other than the Superintendent and the Medical Officer;(p)"Under Sentence" means under sentence of imprisonment of either description; and(q)"Dangerous prisoner" means, any prisoner declared to be such by the Superintendent with reference to the character of such prisoner in pursuance of the provisions of Section 56 of the Prisons Act, 1894.Words importing the masculine gender shall be taken to include females, and words in the singular shall include the plural and vice versa.(a)"Open Air Jail" or "Minimum Security Jail" means prison meant for keeping well-behaved prisoners, where there is no material and physical precaution against escape (such as walls, locks, bars, armed or other special security guard) which is governed by a system based on self-discipline and sense of responsibility of the inmates towards the group in which he lives;(b)"Sub Jail" or Subsidiary Jail means any place so declared by the State Government, by general or special order, and used permanently or temporarily under that authority for the detention of prisoners. It includes all lands and buildings appurtenant thereto.
