Lack of medical care, shortage of space, no proper method ofallowing the inmates to meet their family members are some of the pointshighlighted by High Court Bar Association in its report on the condition ofjails in the state.
On the high court directions issued in a Public InterestLitigation petition, several teams constituted by the High Court Bar AssociationKashmir visited different jails and prepared the report.
DISTRICT JAIL UDHAMPUR:
After interacting with inmates in district jail Udhampur, afour member team of the Bar prepared its report.
The report indicates that in absence of a qualified doctorin the jail, there are no proper medical facilities available to the inmates.
“The escort is not provided to the prisoners for taking themto the courts and resultantly their trial is getting delayed without any faultof theirs,” the report said.
While the report underlines that the inmates are notproduced before the courts “under the excuse of escort not being availablewhich causes delay in the disposal of their cases”, it indicates that “there isno proper method of allowing the inmates to meet their family members who visitthe jail”.
SUB JAIL HIRA NAGAR JAMMU:
In its report a team of the Bar after interacting withthirty one inmates in sub jail Hira Nagar, Jammu, has said the jail is notspacious enough to accommodate the prisoners.
“There is shortage of space in the jail to accommodate thedetenues and undertrial prisoners and the barracks in which they have been keptare overcrowded and are also not properly maintained”.
The barracks, the report said, have been converted intocells and the political detenues have been kept with the hardened criminals.
The report divulges that the “prisoners are not providedproper food and medicine”.
It says the “unhygienic food prepared by the jailauthorities of their own choice is being provided to all the detenues andundertrial prisoners, which has caused serious ailments to all of them”.
“Whenever a complaint with regard to the ailment is made tothe jail authorities, the inmates are not taken to the hospital or to anydoctor for treatment. However, unqualified people working in the jail ondifferent posts are providing them pain killers for every ailment,” the reportadds.
According to the report a detenue, Fayaz Ahmad hascontinuous pain in his legs and in case he is not treated properly there isevery possibility of his leg being amputated.
“The jail authorities were requested to give him appropriatetreatment by shifting him to any hospital but they did not pay any heed to therequest made by the team members,” the report said.
DISTRICT JAIL AMPHALLA, JAMMU:
After interacting with eleven detainees in district jailAmphalla, a team of the Bar has reported that the inmates are not beingprovided proper medical treatment by the jail authorities.
“One of the inmates namely Seeratul Hassan, who was sufferingfrom pancreatic infection stated before the team members that he was shiftedfrom Sub Jail Hira Nagar to District Jail Amphalla, Jammu and he complained tothe jail authorities that he is facing a serious ailment and he thereforedeserves to be shifted to JMC Jammu for treatment but he was not shifted to thehospital,” the report said.
The report divulges that though cases are pending againstthe under-trial inmates in different courts in Kashmir, they are not producedbefore these courts. As a result of which, the team said, the trial of theircases is prolonging and their right to get speedy trial stands defeated.
CENTRAL JAIL TIHAR, DELHI:
After meeting ten under-trial prisoners lodged in CentralJail Tihar, Delhi, a Bar team has found that they are not being produced beforethe Courts on each date of hearing.
“The Kashmiri prisoners lodged in Tihar Jail are being keptin High Security Wards and they are not given the same treatment which is beinggiven to other prisoners lodged in other barracks of Central Jail Tihar, Delhi.They are no doubt allowed interviews with their family members but theinterviews are of short duration and it is at a distance and in irons,” the Barreport said.
The inmates, the report said, complained that even thoughthey are provided food regularly but they are not allowed to take any food itembrought by their family members on interview days inside the jail.
“The team was told by the Kashmiri inmates that though thebehaviour of jail staff is very cordial but problems are being faced by them onaccount of non-availability of medical and other facilities,” the report said.
The report unveils that despite High Court directions, theteam faced a lot of difficulty in obtaining permission from the jailauthorities to meet the detenues and undertrial prisoners of Kashmir provincelodged in the Central Jail, Tihar.