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High Court permits civil rights team to interview fasting prisoners

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, SEPT. 13. A team of advocates and civil rights activists, led by the former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, Justice Rajinder Sachar, has been permitted by the Madras High Court to visit the Chennai Central Prison and the Special Prison for Women at Vellore and interview fasting prisoners booked under the POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act).

While 11 prisoners are on fast in Chennai, three women detenus are on a hunger strike at Vellore, demanding the repeal of the POTA with retrospective effect and the immediate release of all detenus.

A Division Bench comprising Justice Prafulla Kumar Misra and Justice K.P. Sivasubramaniam gave permission on a habeas corpus petition, filed by advocate G. Hari Babu, praying for better medical attention to the detenus and permission for their family members and friends to interview them on Tuesday.

Mr. Hari Babu alleged that the jail authorities were imposing "unreasonable restrictions citing security reasons" whenever an application was made to visit the detenus.

Even the family members and friends were being prevented from meeting the detenus, he said.

On the senior counsel, K. Chandru's insistence, the Bench said the team should be allowed to meet the detenus on September 14 "notwithstanding Rule 693 of the Tamil Nadu Prison Manual", which bars the benefit of meeting to the prisoners.

According to the petitioner, the team members would convey to the detenus the recent appeal by civil rights organisations that they end the hunger-strike.

They would give them an assurance that they would take up their cause outside the jails and continue their demand for retrospective repeal of the POTA.

The Bench has posted the matter to September 16.

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