State govt agrees to take up prison reforms

“We are unanimously of the view that the availability of drugs in all jails was a malady which exists in practically all the jails in the state of Punjab. It was probably in view of this,that one of us,Mohammad Ishar Alam,who had retired as Director General of Police (Prisons),was of the opinion that during his tenure in the said post he had come to the conclusion that one of the primary causes of the availability of drugs in prisons was the familiarity which the inmates were able to develop with the jail staff,majority of which belong to the same district. He in his own immaculate way termed it as the “chacha Jailor Bhatija Qaidi (uncle jailor nephew prisoner)” and was of the view that if this nexus between inmates and the jail staff could be broken,majority of the problems in relation to availability of drugs in the jails would be solved. Interestingly,the present DGP (Prisons) has also evinced this affinity between the inmates and the jail staff as a possible cause of the malady,” the Committee had held.

Disagreeing with this suggestion,the Punjab government has submitted that staff posted in jails should be from the same area. The reasoning given by the state is that if a jail employee is posted to some other jail he will not be able to focus on his duty by remaining away from his family members.

Except this suggestion,the Punjab government has agreed to all suggestions given by the Committee.

The Committee had opined that for solving the problem of overcrowding,a departmental body may be set up for regularly monitoring the population of each jail and making suitable recommendations to the Jail Department.

Also,the committee had suggested that “sniffer dogs,hand held metal detectors,full-size X ray machines and independent operatives should be employed in the jails to keep a check on the goods and material being transported in and outside the jail. The committee had also suggested that a disciplined agency shall be engaged which can work independently of the jail authority like a paramilitary force,PAP,Commandos or IRB.

The Committee comprised Justice Amar Dutt,Izhar Alam,IPS and GPS Sahi,IAS,all retired officers.

To ameliorate the deteriorating condition of the jails,the Committee had suggested that the Court “may formulate a suitable Committee of experts headed by the Superintending Engineer of PWD of each district,to assess the condition of each Jail and submit its time bound report so that reasonable steps can be taken by the State for making annual budgetary provisions either in the Jail budget or in the PWD budget for repair and maintenance of each Jail”.

A Committee was constituted by the High Court on the directions of the High Court in response to a letter written by Simranjit Singh Mann,President of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD),Amritsar to the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2008. Narrating his first hand experience in a jail where he had stayed in Jalandhar,Mann had alleged that the jail is overcrowded. The matter was handed over to the Jail Reforms Committee.