Prisoners
convicted for minor crimes and hailing from far-fetched areas
would not have to undergo imprisonment with habitual offenders
at central jails as they would undergo imprisonment at a nearby
sub-jail.-Muslim Saleem
Violence and overcrowding were the 'hallmarks' of jails in MP till recently. On April 25, 2008, a gang war took place in Balaghat jail in which two undertrials were killed and six inmates injured. The trouble began when Shailesh Nai, accused in several cases of attempt to murder and extortion, was brought back to the jail from a lower court. 'After coming back to the jail, he accused some convicts, owing loyalty to another criminal Hajrat Ali, of stealing his packet of marijuana. A fight broke out between the two groups and convicts used iron rods, lathis and bricks to hit each other, resulting in serious injuries to some undertrials. While Shailesh died on the spot, his accomplice Sameer succumbed to his injuries in the district hospital.
The abovementioned incident was not a stray one so far as MP jails were concerned. The main cause of such incidents was overcrowding and keeping hardcore criminals with prisoners undergoing short jail term for minor crimes.
The state government headed by Shivraj Singh Chouhan was seized of the situation and the ingenious and sensitive CM was on the lookout for a permanent solution to such unpleasant happenings in the jails. The permanent solution to overcrowding in jail lay in just a minor amendment in the state Jail Manual, reports SMS News and Features agency.
It was eureka and MP govt led by Chouhan lost no time in effecting the necessary change. The state government has effected the all important amendment to Jail Manual with a view to redressing problem of overcrowding in jail in MP. As per the amendment, now the prisoners undergoing five years' jail term would be detained in sub-jails. Similarly, those undergoing ten or more years' imprisonment or life term would be detained in central jails. Notification to this effect has been issued. All the superintendents of central jails, district jails and sub-jails have been instructed to ensure implementation of this order by June 1, 2008. Earlier, prisoners undergoing up to one-year jail term were kept in sub-jails and those convicted for up to three years' imprisonment were detained at district jails. Due to this, central jails had to accommodate prisoners double or triple of their capacity.
This amendment would bring about far-reaching benefits for Jail Department as well as prisoners. Sub-jails were keeping prisoners less than their capacity while the government had to spend lots of funds in running these sub-jails. This situation would improve now and state government's resources would be utilised justifiably.
According to the amendment, prisoners convicted for minor crimes and hailing from far-fetched areas would not have to undergo imprisonment with habitual offenders at central jails as they would undergo imprisonment at a nearby sub-jail. The biggest beneficiaries of this amendment would be relatives of such prisoners who had to visit far-fetched central jails.
Similarly, the amendment would lessen burden on central jails which used to be overcrowded. On the other hand captives undergoing short term imprisonment would be shifted to sub-jails where they would get better opportunity of work which was not available to them at central jails. As per rules honorarium is given to prisoners in lieu of their work in jail.
All the superintendents of central jails have been instructed to ensure that prisoners are kept in their jails as per the amendment. If any prisoners of any district/sub-jail is present in their jail, immediate action should be taken to transfer them to as per the amendment. At the same time it has been made clear by the state government that if any prisoner is undergoing life imprisonment at district of sub-jails under any order, he must be transferred back to the central jail.
June 1, has been set as the deadline for jail superintendents to implement this amendment. At the same time, they have been asked to send the compliance report to the government through Jail Headquarter.
It may be mentioned that at present 120 jails in MP have the capacity to keep 20,448 prisoners whereas these jails have 32019 more prisoners than their capacity. As per perspective plan of the Union government, the MP government has undertaken construction of additional barracks in many jails with a view to enhancing their capacity. As many as 359 new barracks have been constructed under this scheme. Even overcrowding and imbalanced distribution of prisoners was witnessed in jails. In the light of these facts, the state government has effected this amendment. It is a historic decision taken by MP Government. It is hoped that this decision of MP Government would inspire governments of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to follow suit since violence in jail is far more in those states.
Overcrowding is the most visible problem and yet no long term or short-term remedies have been found by any state other than MP. Prisons in places like AP, Gujarat, Haryana, MP and Maharashtra have prisoners far in excess of their capacity. In Delhi, Tihar Jail holds 8700 prisoners against a stipulated capacity of 2200. The reasons for overcrowding in jails are many. Inordinate delays in trials result in many undertrials having to be detained in jail for unduly long periods - in many cases extending to years. This, together with the routine new additions, literally clogs the system. In many cases, prisoners who are facing charges of grave professional, violent crimes are outnumbered by others like suspected drug offenders, ticketless travellers, Railway alarm - chain pullers, and a variety of others who have technically violated law. Many of them are in jail only because they could not pay the fines imposed on them by courts. In some cases, prisoners prefer to continue in jail because they just cannot afford even a single meal a day outside! Then there are prisoners who prefer to spend a couple of months in jail than to pay "maintenance" to their wives as ordered by courts. Under these circumstances, the problem of overcrowding can be solved or at least reduced only by a variety of measures. Urgent solutions have be found reducing delays in trials. This aspect is dealt with subsequently.
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