Gujarat High Court Criminal Manual (subordinate court practice), 1977
In Probation of Offenders Act, 1958 (Central Act XX of 1958) provisions are made for new methods of treatment for those offenders who are likely to make good, if given a chance for constructive help. Under these new methods of treatment alternatives to imprisonment are given, because experience shows that commitment to prison does more harm than good to a certain type of offenders. The object of the Act is not punishment but reform by means of constructive treatment.