Prisoners can be given home-cooked food only on medical advice, says Karnataka High Court

Stating that home-cooked food for undertrials can be given only on medical advice for health reasons and not on a mere request, said the High Court of Karnataka while setting aside the trial court’s order of allowing home-cooked food once a week to actor Darshan, his friend Pavithra Gowda, and other accused persons in the Renukaswamy murder case.

“Home-cooked food for undertrial prisoners is not prohibited. But it can be granted only in accordance with the prison rules and procedures noted herein above. Medical advice must precede the grant of home-cooked food. Permission cannot be granted merely on request or as a matter of indulgence,” the court observed.

Justice M. Nagaprasanna passed the order while allowing a petition filed by the Superintendent of Prisons, who had questioned the legality of two separate orders passed by the 56th Additional City Civil and Sessions Court on December 29, 2025, and January 12.

‘Would create chaos’

The trial court’s order is legally unsustainable as it directed the grant of home-cooked food without prior medical examination or recommendations, the High Court said while pointing out that granting of such concessions indiscriminately to some inmates would create chaos in the prison management as other inmates would also be entitled to similar treatment.

The trial court on December 29 had allowed home-cooked food for Pavithra Gowda (accused number-1), Nagaraja R. (accused number-11), and Lakshman M. (accused number-12) merely on oral requests made by their advocates that no proper food was being provided to them in the prison, without filling any application as per the procedure in this regard.

When the Superintendent sought clarification on this order citing provisions in the prisons rules and the apex court’s direction of not to give special treatment to these accused persons, the trial court not only warned the Superintendent of consequences for not providing home-cooked food despite its direction, but directed the official to provide home-cooked food to all the accused persons in the Renukaswamy murder case in the absence of any application from them.

Meanwhile, the High Court has reserved the liberty to the accused to seek home-cooked food provided it was advised for medical reasons in terms of the prison rules, bearing in mind the warning issued by the apex court against giving special or five-star treatment to Darshan and other accused in the jail.

Food quality

As advocate for Pavithra had questioned the quality of food provided in the prison by pointing out that prison authorities are spending only ₹85 per day to provide four meals per inmate, the court said that this argument raises legitimate questions about nutritional sufficiency in the food provided to the inmates.

While observing that “the protection of human dignity does not cease at the gates of the prison and the prisoners, though deprived of liberty, are entitled to basic necessities in accordance with the law”, the court, to safeguard the rights of the prisoners and to ensure transparency, directed the digital publication of the prison menu at conspicuous places.

The court also directed the prison authorities to establish a complaint mechanism, if not in place already, enabling prisoners to report deficiencies in food quality, while ordering that the medical officer or a designated dietitian should conduct periodic inspection of food prepared for the inmates intermittently and record their certification with regard to its quality.