State govt to expand network in courts,jails

The state government is proposing to set up a videoconferencing network between courts and prisons at 82 centres over the next year to improve the facilities and avoid the risk of transporting prisoners to courts.

The state government is proposing to set up a videoconferencing network between courts and prisons at 82 centres over the next year to improve the facilities and avoid the risk of transporting prisoners to courts.

According to home department officials,28 centres in various parts of the state have been connected through videoconferencing. Now,the proposal is to connect 82 more centres in prisons in the state with courts. It includes increasing videoconferencing facility by three in Mumbai Central jail,two each at thane,Yerwada,Nagpur,Aurangabad and Taloja central jails.

At the sessions court in Mumbai,15 video conferencing units are proposed,20 at chief metropolitan magistrate court in Mumbai and five or six each at the district courts of Aurangabad,Nagpur,Nashik,Pune,Thane.

We want to expand it in a big way,especially in Mumbai,Thane and Navi Mumbai. The facility had worked well during the recent times and helps reduce risk and cost of transportation, said Medha Gadgil,Principal Secretary,Home.

Video conferencing was first started in Mumbai,Thane,Yerwada central jails and Byculla district prison in 2005 and extended to 24 other centres last year. It enabled the state to have one videoconferencing facility in at least one centre in each district.

Considering the risk involved in transporting Ajmal Kasab from jail to courts,the Maharashtra government had chosen to conduct videoconferencing during the confirmation of his death sentence in the sessions court for his role in the 26/11 carnage.

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