The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Elections may delay justice to undertrial prisoners

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Monday, Apr 21, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Elections may delay justice to undertrial prisoners

Raghava M.

Policemen who escort them to courts may be put on poll duty

On an average, 200 inmates of Bangalore prison need to be produced in courts every day
Only 60 of them are being produced due to
poor strength of CAR personnel

BANGALORE: The prospects of an elected government assuming office next month may bring cheer to others but not to the inmates of Bangalore Central Prison.

Many of the undertrial prisoners here will not be able to attend courts because of further depletion in the already inadequate police force available for escort duty. Many personnel have been mobilised for election duty.

On an average, 200 inmates of the prison that is located 20 km from Bangalore city need to be escorted by the City Armed Reserve (CAR) personnel to the city courts every day. But only 60 of them get produced in the courts, mainly because of the poor strength of the CAR personnel. The others have to wait for their turn indefinitely.

Many prisoners will not be produced in courts until the elections are over.

A senior police official, on condition of anonymity, said that policemen, including those acting as escorts, would be put on election duty.

Manual

The Prison Manual, a guide for prison authorities, lays down clearly about the number of escorts. According to it, a minimum of two assistant police constables (APCs) are needed to take four inmates to the court.

If the number of inmates is between four and six, there has to be at least one Assistant Head Constable (AHC) and three APCs; if it is more than six, an additional APC has to be detailed.

The number of escorts will increase in cases of sending a “dangerous” inmate, when travelling in train for more than 12 hours and journey during night.

Since 2001, 226 of the 5,000-strong CAR have been doing escort duty.

The personnel are also involved in providing security to vital installations, providing VVIP security and training among other duties.

While the number of inmates in prison has increased, there has not been any proportionate increase in the strength of escorts. This is affecting the production of undertrial prisoners in the courts.

In November last, 3,119 (33 per cent) of the 4,673 inmates were not produced in the courts. On April 10 and 11, only 20 of the 293 inmates were produced.

“It will not be a surprise if no inmates are produced during this election period, a prison official said.

The former Chief Justice of Karnataka and Kerala High Courts, V.S. Malimath said that the State Government should make other arrangements and not further reduce the number of escorts.

“You cannot prevent production of the inmates and deprive them of their liberty. The State Government has a duty to produce them before courts. Every citizen has a right to get speedy justice.” Mr. Malimath, who has studied the condition of prisons in the country, said that lack of escorts was a common problem in prisons.

The State Governments should bring in modifications in the system, including use of a force exclusively for taking prison inmates to courts, he said.The Home Department is yet to come out with its response to the direction issued by the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority in December last, for taking immediate steps to provide enough CAR personnel. The department is mulling over the possibility of outsourcing the work of escorts as recommended by the Dharmaveera Committee on Police Reforms.

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