Jail operation aftermath : Transfer of UTPs from Hyderabad jail still pending, court unhappy

SHC circuit bench requests details on Darul Amans in major cities.

HYDERABAD:

The court is not happy with the pace at which under-trial prisoners (UTPs) are being transferred from Hyderabad Central Jail to other prisons in the region, following the operation last month.

After issuing a show-cause notice to the finance secretary, Naveed Kamran Baloch, on Wednesday for not attending hearings, the Sindh High Court (SHC) circuit bench ordered the prison to transfer the inmates immediately.

Justices Sajjad Ali Shah and Muhammad Ali Mazhar were hearing a report, which was turned into a petition by SHC Chief Justice Mushir Alam. This report on the living conditions of inmates was prepared by the district and sessions judge, Fahim Ahmed Siddiqi, who visited the Hyderabad Central Jail along with the additional sessions judge-II, after the operation.

Prisons IG Ghulam Qadir Thebo told the court that 71 out of the 210 UTPs moved to other prisons in the province, had been shifted to Nara Jail. The remaining ones would be shifted to Nara or other jails, depending upon where their cases are pending, within three days. It may be noted that, during the previous hearing, the court had directed the authorities to complete the transfer before the next hearing.

The Hyderabad jail superintendent, Shabbir Jan Sarhandi, requested the bench accommodate around 30 inmates in Badin jail because taking them to Thatta for their hearings are a problem for the administration. According to Thebo, the capacity of Badin jail is 250 with a total population of 163 inmates. Around 100 more prisoners can be accommodated there, he said.

The Hyderabad DPO assured the court that inmates will be provided security while they are being transported. At this point, the bench pointed out that the court is losing important witnesses due to delays in hearings.

The court also expressed dismay over the continuous housing of inmates in cells. “Hundreds [of prisoners] are languishing in small cells while you have only one functioning barrack in which only elderly inmates are kept.”

Buildings department executive engineer Akhtar Dawach told the bench that the repairs and renovation of five barracks, with a capacity of 50 inmates, have been completed. Sarhandi assured that 250 inmates will be shifted to those barracks within a day.

Sarhandi and Dawach also told the court that they need around Rs26 million for the complete repairs of 15 barracks in circle one and eight barracks in circle two, besides the compound walls of the prison. A report has been handed over to the finance department through the home department.

During the hearing, prisons IG Thebo complained about the lack of finances in their department. He said that the finance department did not even release Rs900,000 in the current fiscal year. “From the Rs13 million allocated budget, around 85 per cent was slashed as part of Sindh government’s development budget cut to attend to the flood situation and its aftermath,” he said.

The judges also asked about the details of the operation last month. Thebo replied that the operation was “not planned”. “It happened inadvertently when the jail staff was held hostage by the prisoners.”

Works and Services deputy secretary Ahmed Bux Ghumro said that around 60 per cent of the construction work in Thatta prison and 90 per cent of the work in Mirpurkhas prison has been completed.

Nara Jail superintendent Ghulam Murtaza Shaikh told the court that he needs Rs3.5 million to repair two barracks. “The roofs of these barracks are nearly 60 per cent damaged and we also have to build three to four washrooms in each barrack,” said Dawach.

The bench ordered Darul Aman Hyderabad assistant director Syeda Bano Rizvi to compile a report for the next hearing detailing the conditions of Darul Amans in Sukkur, Larkana and Hyderabad, the amount of funds released and needed, as well as their total population.

On Thursday, the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) refused to accept the reasons for the jail operation submitted by the jail superintendent and referred the case to the court concerned. District and sessions judge Fahim Ahmed Siddiqi said that it is beyond the ATC’s authority. Sarhandi had told the court that the authorities launched the operation because the inmates had created trouble.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 15^th,  2011.