Central jail case: Prisons IG to submit estimates for repairs

Court upset at author­ities for sendin­g detail­s in pieces.

HYDERABAD:

The inspector general of prisons has been directed to submit an estimate of the expenses on the repairs and maintenance of Hyderabad Central Jail.

On Thursday, the Sindh High Court Hyderabad circuit bench, comprising Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, gave the orders “keeping in view the security and hygiene of the inmates”.

The court will then forward the estimates to the finance department to earmark the amount in the next provincial budget. “Submission of estimates at different intervals wastes the court’s time as it has to forward them to the finance department as well,” the court observed when Prisons DIG Gulzar Channa told the court that Rs34.26 million was required for the  rehabilitation of Larkana Central Jail alone.

The court also directed the Sindh IG, Prisons IG and the home secretary to mutually resolve the issue of transporting prisoners for trials from one district to another by ensuring temporary housing in their respective districts. “Besides ensuring regular appearance of prisoners at trials, this measure will also reduce the burden on the exchequer by saving money on fuel,” the court noted.

Following court orders to house inmates in their respective districts of trial, 57 of 125 prisoners have been shifted, said Channa. The rest, excluding the recidivists, will be moved soon, he added.

At the next hearing, scheduled for May 12, the Prisons IG, Hyderabad DCO and the health secretary will have to explain why they have failed to appoint a doctor for Hyderabad Central Jail, even though the court gave the orders.

The judges were hearing a petition moved to the court by the SHC chief justice on a report on jail conditions submitted by the district and sessions judge, Fahim Ahmed Siddiqi. Besides Siddiqi, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah had also inspected the jail on March 17, following the jail operation in which seven prisoners were killed and 40 others, including eight policemen, were injured.

Observing that “till this day no steps have been taken to restore law and order in Larkana Central Jail”, Justice Shah ordered an inspection by the Prisons IG, who was told to submit a report at the next hearing. “I may also take the SHC chief justice for a visit,” he said.

The judge scolded Channa, who was representing his department, and said that, “It is a shame that you cannot control people behind bars. How will you control those freely moving outside? If the superintendent is incompetent then he should resign”.

During the previous hearing on April 28, the court had restrained the Prisons IG from conducting a jail operation in Larkana without the court’s permission.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 6^th, 2011.