Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Monday directed advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni to personally visit prisons and get a first-hand account of the condition of prisoners, after it was informed that the video calling facility for inmates which has been discontinued since December 2021 cannot be started due to logistical and security problems.
The HC opined that once the AG visits the prisons as they had, his perspective on the condition of prisoners would change as the prisons are overcrowded.
The ceremonial division bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice S S Shinde, which was constituted as it was justice Shinde’s last day before he took over the charge of chief justice of Rajasthan high court on Tuesday, was informed by the prison authorities that an affidavit in response to the public interest litigation (PIL) filed by People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and another had been filed.
The PIL had challenged the December 21, 2021 notification of the home department that had ordered the discontinuation of the video calling facility which was started for inmates during the pandemic.
The affidavit filed by Sunil Ramanand, additional director general of police and inspector general of prisons and correctional services was submitted by advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni. The affidavit stated that the decision to discontinue the video calling facility was taken based on various factors which included the availability of the coin box facility.
The affidavit further stated that there was no provision for phone calls in the Maharashtra Prison Manual and that video calling was introduced during the pandemic as a substitute for physical mulakaats and since the pandemic situation had eased, there was no need for the same as physical mulakaats had resumed.
Ramanand also stated that the video calling facility required various infrastructural changes and the state would have to bear a huge financial burden as there was also a shortage of staff it was not advisable to have the video calling facility as it would pose a security threat.
The PUCL in its rejoinder to the prison affidavit refuted the claims and stated that though the phone call facility was not mentioned in the Prison Manual, the video calling facility was already provided in women’s prisons since 2017. It also referred to the convenience of video calling for relatives of inmates who were from other districts, states and countries as well as the lawyers who would want to meet the inmate for instructions and discussing the next course of legal action. The PUCL affidavit also rubbished the claim of security threat and stated that the prison authorities verified the number of the caller before allowing the inmate to interact over video calling hence the excuse that inmates would speak with people other than his family was not valid.
The affidavit also refuted the claim of the prison authorities of a shortage of staff and said that prison staff was not assigned duties other than inside the jail hence it seemed to be an excuse by the authorities to refuse the video calling facility which would not only save time but would also be convenient for the relatives of inmates who were not well off or were not living close by.
After hearing the submissions and perusing the affidavits, justice Shinde addressed AG Kumbhakoni and suggested that he visit a jail like he and another judge, Justice U U Lalit, had visited and had been affected by the plight of the prisoners due to overcrowding and lack of facilities.
“Some of those prisons have a capacity of 600 and there are over 3,500 prisoners. Hence, all facilities have to be updated accordingly. The prisoners should know about the status of their case and how much sentence have they served,” said justice Shinde.
CJ Datta then directed AG Kumbhakoni to comply with the suggestion of justice Shinde and submit a report of his visit within a period of three weeks and adjourned the hearing of the PIL to July.