a free citizen enjoys all statutory and constitutional rights when a person is convicted of a crime he or she loses many of his or her rights but not all still article 21 of the constitution gives certain protection to prisoners against illegal and unconstitutional actions of police officials for instance prison authorities are not allowed to inflict cruel and unusual punishment upon prisoners who violate prison rules any imposition of a major punishment within the prison walls is conditional upon the observance of the procedural safeguards enshrined in article 21 of the constitutionthe supreme court in sunil batras case held that the conviction of a person for a crime did not reduce him to a no entity vulnerable to major punishment imposed by the jail authorities without observance of procedural safeguards it was also held that bar fetters to a considerable extent imposed under section 56 of the prisons act curtail if not wholly deprive locomotion which is one of the facets of the personal liberty and such action can only be justified in the circumstances relatable to the character of the prisoner and his safe custody however prisoners have no fundamental rights to escape from lawful custody and hence the presence of armed police guards causes no interference with the right to their personal liberty it is unconstitutional to permit general prison conditions that include guards physically attacking prisoners racial segregation insanitary conveniences and inadequate medical facilities a combination of these factors can comprise cruel and unusual punishment at the same time solitary confinement in prison is not unconstitutional so long as elementary conditions of decency are maintained other specific punishment must not include chains handcuffs in cells tear gas or removal of clothing except in special circumstances there must be no corporal punishment because such severity offends modern concept of human dignity a prisoner is entitled to communicate subject to prison rules he or she even has the right to communicate his or her grievances to the court or the media even in prison a prisoner has the right to his her religious beliefs dietary requests for religious observance remain a problemthe prisoners are entitled to the kind of medical treatment that current medical practice prescribes for most of the patients suffering from a particular ailment right to protection is also available in prison environment exposure to sexual assaults unfortunately is a fact of prison life a prisoners most effective legal remedy where officials fail to protect him or her from these assaults is a civil suit or a writ petition before the high court or the supreme court also right to claim monetary compensation for the violation of the fundamental rights particularly under article 21 has been recognised in a number of cases conviction of person in a crime may cause himher to lose certain rights but one can still enjoys certain basic rights