Kerala - Thrissur   

Prisons should be correctional centres: High Court judge

— Photo: By Special Arrangement

FOR SPEEDY TRIALS: Justice R. Basant of the Kerala High Court inaugurating the video conferencing system linking courts and jails in Thrissur at a function held in Viyyur Central jail on Sunday.

Thrissur: Prisons should act as correctional institutions, instead of being mere centres of detention, Justice R. Basant of the Kerala High Court has said.

Speaking after inaugurating the videoconferencing system linking courts and jails in Thrissur district at a function held in Viyyur Central jail on Sunday, Justice Basant pointed out that the purpose of prisons was to ensure a crime-free society by transforming prisoners into better citizens.

“Jails must be places where there is justice. The jail term should be a transformational period in the prisoners' lives.”

He noted that the main objective of the videoconferencing system was to expedite the administration of criminal justice.

“We need a quick system of criminal justice. Immediacy and certainty of punishment are more important than its severity. The video conferencing system will cut down the delay in legal process,” he said.

A lot of time of the courts and the police personnel was being wasted on escorting and waiting for convicts and undertrial prisoners, the judge said.

“Majority of the undertrials, who are languishing in the country's jails, are from marginalised sections of society. Primary beneficiaries of the new system are the poor undertrials as it will help the courts for the speedy disposal of cases,” he said.

Addressing the function, Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishan said that from now on jail warders would be recruited by the Kerala Public Service Commission.

Vacancies

“Steps have been taken to fill vacancies of jail warders before July. In case of emergency, police personnel will be appointed on deputation,” he said.

The government had taken stringent measures to ensure discipline in prisons, the Minister said.

“State-of-the-art monitoring systems have been deployed in jails. Jail officials should be vigilant to check illegal activities,” the Minister said.

The Minister said that in future only convicted prisoners would be detained in central prisons.

“Remand prisoners will be shifted to other jails. Eight more jails will be set up to reduce the density in jails,” he said.

Reforms

Mr. Balakrishnan said that the government had initiated many reforms in jails to ensure human rights of inmates. “Parole rules have been relaxed. Vocational training centres opened in jails. Many old building were renovated and new ones constructed,” he said.

Additional Director General of Police (Prisons) Alexander Jacob said that the video conferencing system would be extended to other districts in the State in a phased manner.

“All the 146 courts and 46 jails in the State will be linked with video conferencing system within a year. It will help to reduce the overcrowding in jails,” he said.

Therambil Ramakrishnan, MLA, District and Sessions Judge M.P. Bhadran and others also spoke.

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Prisons should be correctional centres: High Court judge

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