Tihar Prisons, popularly known asTihar Jail, are a prison complex inIndia and are one of the largest complexes of prisons in India. There are 9 functional prisons spread over more than 400 acres.[2][3] Run by Department of Delhi Prisons, theprison contains nine central prisons, and is one of the three prison complexes in Delhi. The other two prison complexes are atRohini andMandoli with one and six central prisons respectively.[4] Tihar prison complex is located inJanakpuri, approximately 3 km fromTihar village inWest Delhi.
The prison is styled as acorrectional institution. Its main objective is to convert its inmates into ordinary members of society by providing them with useful skills, education, and respect for the law. It aims to improve the inmates' self-esteem and strengthen their desire to improve. To engage, rehabilitate, and reform its inmates, Tihar usesmusic therapy, which involves music training sessions andconcerts.[5] The prison has its own radio station, run by inmates.[6] There is also aprison industry within the walls, manned wholly by inmates, which bears the brandTihar.[7]
Originally, Tihar was a maximum-security prison run by theState of Punjab. In 1966 control was transferred to theNational Capital Territory of Delhi. Beginning in 1984, additional facilities were constructed, and the complex became Tihar Prison, also the largest jail in India.
Under the charge of IPS officerKiran Bedi, when she was Inspector General of Prisons, she instituted a number of prison reforms at Tihar, including changing its name to Tihar Ashram. She also instituted aVipassana meditation program for both staff and inmates; initial classes were taught byS. N. Goenka. The prison has also produced an inmate who passed theUPSC civil service examinations.[8]
Many of the inmates continue their higher education through distance education. The campus placement program was launched in 2011 for the rehabilitation of inmates about to complete their sentences. In 2014, a recruitment drive led to 66 inmates selected on the basis of their good conduct, received job offers with salaries up to₹35,000 (US$410) per month, from as many as 31 recruiters, which included educational institutions, NGOs and private companies.[9][10]
In 1986,Charles Sobhraj, a French serial killer, threw a big party for his prison guards and fellow inmates, drugged them with sleeping pills and walked out of the Tihar prison in March.[11][12]
In 2004,Sher Singh Rana, who had been arrested for the murder ofPhoolan Devi in 2001, escaped from Tihar jail in February. He was arrested again in 2006, inKolkata.[13]
In 2015, two prisoners who were waiting for their trial in Tihar jail escaped through a tunnel in June.[14]
In 1961, the Jail Factory was established in Central Jail No. 2 at Tihar. Over the years, its activities have expanded to include carpentry, weaving (handloom & powerloom), tailoring, chemicals, handmade paper, commercial art, and baking. Later, in 2009, a shoe manufacturing unit was established using the Public-Private Partnership model, and thus, the brandTJ's was launched. As of May 2014, 700 inmates work in these units, and 25% of their earnings are deposited in the Victim Welfare Fund, which provides compensation to the victims and their families.[15] A CSR initiative has been launched to provide a Level 4 training program comprising 340 hours of coursework to 1,200 inmates from the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) to empower inmates for a productive post-release life, as a step toward the rehabilitation of undertrials incarcerated for minor offences.[16]
Ripun Bora — education minister ofAssam'sTarun Gogoi-ledCongressional government, the main suspect in the Daniel Topno murder case, was arrested by CBI officials on 3 June 2008 and sent to Tihar on 7 June 2008[citation needed]
Charles Sobhraj — an international serial killer, secretly escaped from Tihar on 16 March 1986, but was recaptured shortly thereafter, returned to the prison and sentenced to an additional ten years for the escape. He was released and deported upon the completion of his term on 17 February 1997.
2012 Delhi gang rape accused; Ram Singh (died by suicide in March 2013),[30] Mukesh Singh, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma; four surviving convicts executed on 20 March 2020[31]
Abhijit Banerjee — Indian born American Nobel laureate. While studying atJawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), he was arrested and imprisoned in Tihar Jail for protesting against JNU's vice-chancellor[43][44]
Anna Hazare - Indian social activists fighting against corruption, were imprisoned in Tihar for protesting conflicts between differing Civil Society and UPA Government anti-corruption bills, known as theJan Lokpal Bill and theLokpal Bill, respectively
As of December 2023[update], Tihar jail has 14,059 inmates against the sanctioned capacity of 5,200. The prison population as of 31 December 2023 has increased by double in comparison to the population as of 31 December 2018.[1][49]
Black Warrant, non-fiction book about prisoners in the jail
Black Warrant (2025) Netflix Series is based on the story Sunil Gupta, a Tihar jailer, and included notable events such as the execution ofRanga Billa andMaqbool Bhat.
Doing Time, Doing Vipassana (1997) documentary about the introduction ofS. N. Goenka's 10-day Vipassana classes at Tihar Jail in 1993 by then Inspector General of Prisons in New Delhi, Kiran Bedi. Bedi had her guards trained in Vipassana first, and then she had Goenka give his initial class to 1,000 prisoners.[50]
Jailer (2023),Rajinikanth is shown as Tihar Jailer "Tiger" Muthuvel "Muthu" Pandian in this film.
