Court intervention

The relatives of detainees have hailed the High Court direction seeking explanation from District Judges with regard to condition of jails in the state and the plight of detainees. The direction, it is hoped, shall go a long way in improving the condition in jails. The reports of the Bar Association and the narrations of the aggrieved relatives have painted a grim picture of the jails especially in Jammu region. It has been learnt that the prisoners are subject to a humiliating treatment the moment they enter the jail. They are put in isolation, in a very debasing way. Those who resist the inhuman practice are tortured. Even the relatives of the prisoners who come from various parts of the state to see them are reportedly subjected to severe inconvenience. This has been taken up with the authorities time and again through newspapers and representations from the relatives of the prisoners, but without results. The prisoners have also expressed grave concern over the food that is provided to them. Mostly the jail authorities cook pulses which increases uric acid content in their blood. This is very painful and many prisoners spend sleepless nights in the prison. While the prisoners never demand delicacies, their request for vegetables are also been ignored. And the jail authorities have made it a point to defer hospitalisation of ailing prisoners on one pretext or the other. Similarly they derive vicarious pleasure by not producing the under trials in courts on hearing days. The jail authorities have to be told in clear terms that the prisoner is a trust with them and they are under a legal, moral and constitutional obligation to uphold this trust. The prisoners have rights and any infringement of these rights by the jail authorities or by the police has to be taken serious note of. If the District Judges visit the jails as required by the High Court, and submit visiting reports on time things shall improve.