In order to ensure conditions (inside jail faculties) for a dignified human existence inside the jails, the Court reminded the state government, emphasising that prisoners are also a part of society, that failing to provide a decent environment could prevent the justice delivery system from delivering justice with dignity.

“It is dignity that is at the root of the justice delivery system so that any punishment awarded is met out in accordance with the law in circumstances that are conducive to human life is without offending the basic/fundamental human rights.” (Para 6)

In essence, the bench was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) plea concerning the deplorable and unacceptable conditions of state jails and the current wage levels for inmates. On this, the divisive bench of Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker and Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh observed that the State’s position and approach are primarily to be blamed for the said matter’s continued pending status.

“Perusal of the order sheet indicates, the matter has remained pending largely on account of the stand/approach adopted by the State. It borders on indifference to the plight of the prisoners and under trials. That indifference if exists, may never find acceptance to the Court.” (Para 3)

Reprimanding the state for not taken any action even after being given ample of opportunities by the Court, the Court highlighted that the current meagre sum of wages being given to the incarcerated needs to be revised.

“Repeatedly, orders have been passed giving opportunity after opportunity to the State respondents to take an informed decision with respect to revision of wages to be paid to the convicts serving out their sentence. At present, a paltry sum of Rs. 40, Rs. 30 and Rs. 25 is being paid to such convicts. It is informed, the same has not been revised for more than 10 years,” the order stated. (Para 4)

The Court observed that despite the officers of the State generally showing up to the court on the scheduled days, they never gave the Court any assurances about a deadline for when a decision will be given regarding revision of pay or expand and renovate the jail facility. The Court further stated that State officials were simply communicating their serious concerns in a ‘lip service manner.’

“This leads us to a prima facie impression that the State authorities are only offering lip service to the grave concern voiced by the Court. Had they been serious, action commensurate to their words and writings offered to the Court (in the affidavits submitted), would be visible. We would not be struggling at the same stage.” (Para 8)

The “tremendous” overcrowding in Uttar Pradesh’s district and central jails was another issue raised by the court. The Court stated that given the number of overcrowding ranges from 0.5 to 3.2, it cannot go unabated. The Court stated that society has gone through enough hardships as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“…the State authorities appear to have not woken up to the imperative need to urgently increase the jail facility adequately, to house all convicts and under-trial prisoners, in conditions conducive to dignified human existence.” (Para 5)

Further noting that the overcrowding has only fallen marginally from 1.9 in June 2022 to 1.6 in June 2023, the Court said that assurances given by the state authorities were not earnest.

“Considering the fact that the average rate of overcrowding has fallen marginally from 1.9 in June, 2022 to 1.6 in June, 2023, we find the assurance given is not worth accepting. The words offered by the State authorities are light.” (Para 9)

Pursuant to this, the Court also took cognizance of the murders being committed inside prisons, the Court said that nothing would be “more shocking” to the Court or the justice delivery system (as a whole) than the murder of any under trial or convict while in the custody of the Court.

Further bemoaning the attitude of the State Government officials towards the predicament of the undertrials and the convicted, the bench instructed the secretary, finance, and the additional IG (prisons) to attend the subsequent hearing in person.

“To allow present circumstance to exist would be to perpetrate similar occurrences in future. That would be a blot on the entire judicial set up,” the Court added as it granted one last chance to the state to act firmly for revisiting prison wages, failing which affidavits must be filed by the officer’s present in Court.

The full judgment can be read here:

Related:

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Undertrials three times the number of convicts in UP jails

Covid-19: Why has J&K sent its prisoners to jails in “worse-off states”?

Delhi jails most crowded; number of unnatural deaths on the rise: Prison report 2019

UP: 2 Dalit Undertrials ‘Commit Suicide’ in Sultanpur Jail Premises, Families Allege Foul Play

More 90k undertrials in UP prisons with 24% SCs, 5% ST and 46% OBC: MHA

The post Allahabad HC: Appalling conditions of the state jails, indifference shown to the plight of prisoners appeared first on SabrangIndia.

On a public interest litigation (PIL) filed for raising the issue of failure of the State to enact any policy or rules with regards to premature release of convicting prisoners, after they have completed 14 years of sentence, the Uttarakhand High Court observed that the affidavit filed by the Inspector General of Prisons was “absolutely vague”.

Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma had directed the Director General of Prisons to file a report on the conditions of jails, reformative techniques used to reform prisoners, working strength of the jail department, the vacancies and budgetary allocation for the jail department.

The Bench referred to the affidavit and stated, “Bare perusal of the affidavit clearly reveals that the affidavit is shorn off concrete details. It is absolutely vague in its content.”

With respect to the facilities in jail, the Uttarakhand High Court noted that the jail authorities failed to mention the details of the number of training halls and sheds available in District Jail, Haridwar. The court said, “Although, he claims that there is a skill development programme, the exact nature and the content of the programme has not been revealed.”

The court read the affidavit submitted by the IG, Prisons which stated that in the first phase, CCTV cameras are being installed in Dehradun and Haridwar jails and sub jails. The court, however, noted that the affidavit failed to mention as to when the said phase began. The Bench remarked, “The present status of the first phase? When the second phase would begin? And the time frame required for ensuring that CCTV cameras are installed in all the jails. The critical information is conspicuously missing from the affidavit.”

The Court addressed the point of reformative techniques used in jails as mentioned in the State’s affidavit that said that training was being provided to the inmates with regards to stitching, carpentering, power loom, nursery/gardening under the Kaushal Vikas Yojana. The Court noted that although the affidavit finds mention of the yojana, it clearly misses out the details as to whether or not such yojana was being implemented in all the jails across the State.

On the issue of distance education imparted by IGNOU and NIOS, the court said that the affidavit does not mention whether education imparted by these organisations is done on a weekly or monthly basis.

On the aspect of training and education inside jails, the Court observed that the affidavit failed to mention the details as regards to the specific area of training being imparted. It remarked, “Whether it is the training in an academic area, or in a technical area, or vocational area? Moreover, there is no indication whether the volunteers of Dev Sanskriti University are the students, or the faculty members of the said University.”

Observing that the basic course of Art of Living was being conducted by a live telecast in jails, the Court went ahead to inquire as to whether Shri Ravi Shankar himself conducted the said training or whether it was done by his devotees or trained personnel.

The affidavit further stated that the working strength of the said department was 624 against the sanctioned strength of 1030 posts. However, the court noted that, “he has not mentioned as to how the said vacancies are scheduled to be filled up? And the time period it would take to fill up these larger vacancies.”

On the issue of overcrowding of jails, the State has accepted that there was a grave problem of overcrowding in almost all the jails in the State. The court said, “District Jail, Haridwar has capacity of 840, whereas presently it houses 1328 prisoners; likewise, sub-jail, Haldwani, was constructed for housing merely 382 prisoners. But presently, it houses 1756 prisoners. According to Mr. Anshuman, the total capacity of all the jails is for housing 3540 prisoners, whereas presently 6608 prisoners are being housed. Thus, obviously the problem of overcrowding stares all of us in our face.”

The court further noted that despite this issue, the government has sanctioned construction of only three jails in the State. “However, when these three jails were sanctioned? What is the status of the construction of three jails? What is the capacity of these three jails, is unclear”, recorded the order.

The court noted that while dealing with the inmate population, Mr. Anshuman (IG, Prisons) did not reveal the number of under-trials, and number of convicted prisoners. Moreover, he also did not disclose the basis of classification of the under-trials and the convicted prisoners.

Thus, the court directed the IG, Prisons to submit a “more detailed and a more clear affidavit” on these issues. The matter will be heard on April 20.

The order may be read here:

Related:

SC seeks affidavit from Tihar Jail authorities over police excesses
CCTV cameras in Police stations: SC discontent with Centre, States and UTs
Rajasthan Govt amends Prison rules to prohibit religion & caste-based discrimination

The post Uttarakhand HC slams State for submitting ‘vague’ affidavit on prison conditions appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The notification issued by the Rajasthan Home Department on February 2, disallowed discrimination inside jails based on caste and religion. This followed recent media reports based on a research paper of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) on caste practices prevalent inside prisons across different states in India. Issued via a notification by the Governor N.L Meena, it reads: “No inmate shall be selected for cooking on the basis of his caste or religion” and “No tradesman shall be chosen on the basis of his caste or religion”.

This notification has been issued as a positive step, in response to Rajasthan High Court’s direction to apprise the court regarding the proposed steps for complete overhauling of the Prison Manual and “to ensure that the prisoners are not forced to indulge in menial jobs like cleaning toilets etc. merely on the basis of their caste and also that no under trial prisoner is forced to perform such jobs in the prison”.

The High Court was hearing a batch of petitions that raised issues regarding prison reforms. The Division Bench of Justices Sandeep Mehta and Devendra Kachhawaha perused “a very disturbing report” published on a website regarding existence of a caste-based work assignment system in the prisons in Rajasthan. The report was based on a research paper of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) and the CHRI researchers interviewed various prisoners (since released) from prisons in Rajasthan which made shocking revelations.

The Bench said, “As per the report, every person, who enters a prison in the State, is asked about his caste and once identified, menial jobs like cleaning toilets, sweeping the prisons etc. are assigned to the persons from lowest echelons in the society irrespective of the nature of the offence committed…The report also refers to the fact that the Prison Manuals of various states are still plagued by the archaic and derogatory caste system, which the Constitution of India pledged to eradicate”.

In addition to such observations, the noted that no under trial prisoner should be forced to perform such jobs in the prison and “Rather, considering the progressive democratic set up of our country and in order to ensure maintenance of proper hygiene in the prisons, it would be expedient in the interest of justice that the State Government considers installation of mechanized/automated cleaning facilities in all the prisons in the State of Rajasthan”.

A detailed investigation in The Wire in December last year, revealed details of prison life and how some of them were forced to clear up choked septic tanks despite a law against it (Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act). While cooking and management of medical care in the prison is considered a high-caste work, sweeping and cleaning is straightaway assigned to the lower caste inmates.

The notification and order may be read here:

Related:

Prisoners too have human rights: Allahabad HC
Over 1.3 lakh illiterate, 1 lakh Dalit prisoners in India: Centre to RS
What lies behind the high walls of Indian prisons?
Does India uphold Prisoners’ Right to Health?

The post Rajasthan Govt amends Prison rules to prohibit religion & caste-based discrimination appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Hounded by the state, raided by the Pune police in the controversial Bhima Koregaon case, Stan Swamy, facing the threat of arrest has worked closely on the rights of the Adivasis of Jharkand.

Image Courtesy: kashishnews.com

An activist and humanitarian, Stan tells us how people’s movements grow and are sustained in the context of his fight against the displacement and human rights violations faced by Adivasi peoples.
 
Stan Swamy is also a founder member of the Visthapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan, a peoples’ movement against displacement. In this interview with IDR, Stan discusses the emergence and growth of people’s movements, his work with young Adivasi undertrials who are falsely accused of being Naxalites and the difficult choices that confront young Adivasis today.

What brought you to Jharkhand?

I’m originally from Tamil Nadu and when I became a Jesuit priest, I didn’t want to remain in the South; it already has too many priests. I felt that there must be a greater need elsewhere. With the help of some friends, I came to know of the indigenous Adivasi peoples in central India–a place where despite the tremendous natural wealth in the region, the people were very poor. I was 20 years old at that time and this was all I knew.

“Despite the tremendous natural wealth in the region, the people were very poor.”

I arrived in the district of Singhbhum and was assigned to teach in a tribal boys high school. I wanted to learn more about my students, and so I spent my holidays with them–going from one village to another, meeting people, speaking to them and getting to know them.

In one such village, I was staying at a student’s home during mango season. One morning, we were sitting in their courtyard, under a mango tree, filled with fruits. My student’s father pointed to a few branches of the tree and asked him to bring down all the fruits that were ripe. The boy did as he was told, and we enjoyed some of the fruits together. But my attention was drawn to a branch of the tree, which was still laden with ripe mangoes. The boy’s father had not asked him to pluck any fruits from that branch, and I thought that perhaps he had failed to notice it. So, I plucked up some courage, pointed to the branch and said, “There are plenty of ripe fruits on this branch. Why didn’t you ask your son to pick those too?” He responded very simply, saying, “Those are fruits for the birds of the air. Nature has given freely, and so, we share freely”.

This incident forced me to question my value system. I spent a few more years during my 20s with Adivasis–learning their language, understanding their lives, their economy and their social setup. I then went abroad for further studies and returned to work at the Indian Social Institute in Bangalore. But I returned to Jharkhand and its Adivasi peoples in 1990.

Could you speak a little about the work you’ve been doing over the past several years?

I’ve been involved in the emergence of some of the people’s movements that Jharkhand has witnessed over the last few decades. One of the main issues we see is that people are being displaced because they live on lands that are rich in mineral resources.

An Adivasi will say, “jaan denge, par zameen nahi denge!” (I will give up my life, but I will not give up my land). But it isn’t enough to say this. So, I have been working with young Adivasis to help them better understand the dynamics of the society we now live in and develop strategies to resist displacement and save their lands.

A related issue is that young people who resist displacement of their land or their villages are accused of being Naxalites or Maoists, and arrested. Since you can’t really rely on the information that is reported in the newspapers, we decided to conduct a study to understand the situation of undertrials in Jharkhand.

We visited 18 districts in the state and spoke to 102 alleged Naxalite undertrials. Ninety-seven percent of our respondents reiterated that they had not committed the crimes attributed to them by the police. Through our study it was evident that in the current system, justice is beyond the means of most of those who have been falsely accused. Once they have been implicated in these cases, the threat of persecution in the form of harassment, intimidation, or re-arrest persists even after accused persons are released on bail. The study also exposed the deliberate misuse of criminal justice procedures to repress alleged Naxalite undertrials in Jharkhand’s jails.

“It isn’t just enough to learn about the reality of the situation. You have to act on it.”

We estimate that there are at least 3,000 young Adivasis and another 2,000 Dalits languishing in Jharkhand’s jails; this is a large number of undertrials for a small state. And, it isn’t just enough to learn about the reality of the situation. You have to act on it. So, I filed a public interest litigation (PIL) against the Government of Jharkhand in the Jharkhand High Court, demanding speedy trials and information about undertrials in the state. The High Court ordered the state to furnish all the relevant information from each and every jail in Jharkhand in January 2018.

There have been several hearings and each time the state will say that one or two undertrials have been released. But we have not received any of the information that we seek and this is because the state has much to hide.

Where does the support for these movements come from?

These movements are primarily driven and supported by the community itself. Let me give you an example. In the 1990s, the government wanted to construct two large dams across the Koel and Karo rivers in Ranchi district. This project would have submerged 132 villages, 50,000 acres of agricultural land and 20,000 acres of forest land. Naturally, people opposed this.

The entire community organised itself under their traditional leadership. They took out massive rallies, walking for hours on end, from village to village to organise the community against the construction of these dams. They conducted aam sabhas (community meetings). But, how do you convey this message when there is no media that can be used? Remember, this was in the 90s.

Well, there’s a particular beat of the drum and when one village played this beat, the neighbouring village heard it and repeated the same beat. This was then heard by the next village and within a few hours, they had conveyed the message to 70 villages. And the very next day, the community gathered, and each person brought with them ek mukki chawal, ek rupya paisa (a handful of rice and one rupee). This is how the movement came together and the community supported itself to resist displacement. They neither asked for nor accepted any financial help from outside.

The movement reached a climax on 2nd February, 2001, when the police opened fire at an aam sabha in the village of Tapkara, where 5,000 people had gathered. Eight people were killed and many more were handicapped for life. The state thought that this would frighten the Adivasis into abandoning the movement, but it had the opposite effect–people said we’ve shed our blood, there’s nothing more to lose–and the movement only became stronger.

Are you seeing things changing as a new wave of younger Adivasis come to the fore?

There are many young Adivasis who have been educated and have good jobs, have built a house in Ranchi, and send their children to English medium schools. But they have severed ties with the villages they come from.

“The ones who have stayed behind cannot stand up and resist; if they do, they are put in jail.”

The ones who have stayed behind cannot stand up and resist; if they do, they are put in jail. It’s a difficult choice for them. The young men say, “I cannot bear to stay back in the village and see my land being taken away; but if I resist, I’ll be thrown into jail. Let me instead leave this place, go elsewhere and earn money for my family.”

This leads us to another situation: migration. Many young Adivasis are migrating, especially towards the southern states, and much of this migration is because their land is being taken away from them. Despite the fact that Jharkhand has protective laws that safeguard land rights of the Adivasis such as the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act and the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, there is a great deal of forcible land acquisition taking place.

When the youth stand up against this, they are putting themselves at risk of being arrested and staying in jail for years without a trial.

But the young are still resisting?

When your land and your home are forcibly taken away, are you going to sit quietly? You are definitely going to stand up. There is resistance, but it isn’t organised such that the community as a whole stands by it.

So, we have created the Visthapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan, a peoples’ movement against displacement, of which I am a founder member. While we have successfully fought some cases through people’s mobilisation, we have also failed in others, because of the brutal repression of state.

“While we have successfully fought some cases through people’s mobilisation, we have also failed in others, because of the brutal repression of state.”

There are others who are doing this too, and leaders have emerged among them. Take the case of Dayamani Barla. She is from the Munda tribe and has played a terrific role in leading the community in the fight for land rights. When ArcelorMittal wanted to set up a steel plant in Gumla-Khunti, the state government wrote off 12,000 acres of land without any consultation with the inhabitants of that land. Dayamani went from village to village, creating awareness about what was happening and leading a campaign against the displacement of Adivasis from their own land.

When ArcelorMittal realised that they could not acquire the land forcibly, they tried other means. Brand new ambulances that were fully equipped and staffed with doctors and nurses started making their way to these villages, offering free services. The community knew exactly why this was happening and sent them packing. This is a very telling move for poor people who are in need of health services. Finally, ArcelorMittal tried to negotiate them down from 12,000 acres to 800 acres, but the people refused to give them an inch of land and eventually they had to leave.

Related Articles:
 

1.Front Line Defenders expresses concern on “Imminent arrest” of Fr. Stan Swamy and other Jharkhand activists

2.Another Raid on Activist, Stan Swamy in Jharkand

3. How the State hounded Stan Swamy, the Man who made People his Religion

4.I raise my voice for Adivasis, am I a Traitor?

The post Over 3,000 Adivasis & 2,000 Dalits languish in Jharkand Jails: Stan Swamy appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Dalit protest in Gujarat after Una atrocity. Photo credit: Indian Express

The Dalit prisoners according to reports cannot even drink water from the Reverse Osmosis (RO) plant installed in the Amreli district jail. The prisoners from lower castes are victimized by the upper castes prisoners and complaints regarding this go unheard by the Jail Superintendent. The Commission issued a notice to the IG (Prisons), Gujarat calling for a report in the matter within six weeks. 

The Commission has also observed that the Constitution of India states that there should be no discrimination with anyone on the basis of caste, creed, gender and religion. Therefore, the jails cannot be allowed to remain an exception in this regard, noted the NHRC press release issued on January 6.

The contents of the news report, if true, amount to violation of right to life, equality and dignity of the prisoners. The jail authorities being custodian of the prisoners are bound to ensure their safety and protection, NHRC added. 

According to the media reports, carried on the 5th January, 2017, an advocate, who remained in the jail for about 110 days in the Amreli district jail as an under trial prisoner has revealed the entire story based on his personal experiences.

When the fellow prisoners came to know that he was involved in the agitation by the Dalits, the upper caste prisoners known as Durbars started harassing him verbally, with comments about his caste.

He was not allowed to drink water from the earthen pitcher which was kept nearby. The Durbars stopped him and asked him to quench his thirst from the tap in the toilet.

The Dalit inmates are made to wash clothes of their fellow prisoners and their utensils too. Sometimes, the upper caste Durbars would wake up the Dalit undertrials at 2 in the night and ask them to massage their legs. 

Reportedly, one of the Dalit inmates who objected to the harassment was beaten up so severely that he could not get up for days but the jail staff refused to shift him to the hospital as it would become a medico legal case.

The complaints made to the Jail Superintendent are never heard by the authorities. The so called upper caste prisoners enjoy all facilities including mobile phones and operate their network from inside the jail with their hand in gloves, with the jail authorities.

It is stated in the news report that the said victim, Navchetan Parmar has approached many organizations including the NHRC for redressal of the grievances of the Dalit prisoners but nothing is being done. 

The NHRC’s Press Release may be viewed here.

The post NHRC issues notice to the IG (Prisons), Gujarat over victimization of Dalit prisoners in jail appeared first on SabrangIndia.