18 January,2025 10:07 AM IST | Mumbai | Arpika Bhosale
The book gives unprecedented insights into Asia’s largest jail. Pics/Getty Images
It's been a little over a week since Black Warrant dropped on Netflix, and the entire country has gone gaga over the series, which gives viewers a rare glimpse into the inner workings of Asia's largest prison complex, Tihar jail, in the 1980s. Whether it's the colourful characters in the prison, or the unabashed portrayal of just how much power serial killer Charles Sobhraj wielded within the confines of Tihar through a mix of money, blackmail and favours, the series draws inspiration from the 2019 book of the same name, penned by Sunil Gupta - the jailer at the centre of the story and journalist Sunetra Choudhury.
In conversation with the authors, we go back a few years to before the release of the book, when Gupta had just written and sent a few chapters to the publisher, Roli Books. At the time, Choudhury who had just finished her book about famous prisoners, Behind Bars : Prison Tales Of India's Most Famous. She already had a long working relationship with Gupta, right from her start as a cub crime reporter covering the prison system, to now being the political editor of a national daily. This made her the ideal candidate to work on the book with Gupta. "I knew Sunil from my early reporting days, and because of my experience and coverage of prison systems, the publisher approached me [to co-write the book]," says Choudhury.
And so, their book, Black Warrant; Confessions of A Tihar Jailer, was born. With the series already a hit, their book is back in the limelight again. Gupta, whose trials, tribulations and successes as a rookie jailer fighting for prison reform are at the centre of the Netflix series and book, tells us over the phone from Delhi: "So many old friends have gotten in touch with me. I have received almost 300 calls since last week."
"I am extremely happy about the response to the book and, more importantly, about how the common man has been introduced to the point of view that even the prisoners of Tihar can be reformed," he adds.
Gupta's novel approach to prison reform is well captured in the series, and he is on several committees working with prisoners. He is credited with bringing about many changes to India's prison system, from introducing special courts within the prisons and video conferencing facilities to connect courts and jails, as well as equal privileges for women and men inmates. It's his experiences and memories as a jailer from which the series draws its inspiration, with Gupta giving readers an unprecedented window into the closed world in Tihar. Take for example the name Black Warrant - before his book came out, not many would have known that it refers to the warrant with the details of an inmate's execution.
From predominantly negative reportage about an alleged complete breakdown in law and order and rampant corruption inside Tihar, Gupta is the reason why the narrative around the prison complex changed to a positive one in the early 2000s, with massive media coverage of Tihar's meditation programmes taking off among prisoners. "It helped us reduce the return rate of inmates who had served their first sentence. A lot of times we hear about great overhauls of the prison or judicial system; while that is needed as well, I think we can just start small. After our meditation/vipassana programmes, most convicts told us that if they had known earlier the things that they know about themselves today, they would have never committed the crimes they did in the first place," he says.
Among his biggest success stories is former inmate Leo Sandy Gasnier, a Norwegian who went from smuggling brown sugar to Norway to becoming a model inmate at Tihar. In 2003, after Gasnier was sent back to Norway to serve the rest of his sentence, the Norwegian sent back a huge shipment of warm clothes for his former fellow inmates, and he also kept in touch with Tihar Jail officials intermittently.
After leaving Tihar Jail, Gupta served as an advocate at the Delhi High Court and Supreme Court, but prison reform remains his one true love, he admits. Portrayed as a tall, thin rookie jailer in the series, Gupta adds: "When I wrote the book, I wanted it to be a message to those who are considered âless than' by the world - maybe because of their looks, like I was constantly undermined because of my height or for being a vegetarian or whatever the reason. I want everyone to understand that true strength lies within, and that if you stay true to yourself and are confident about that, there is nowhere but up."
