Judges order special proceedings for juvenile prisoners

ISLAMABAD:

 

Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Administrative Judge of District Courts Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani have directed sessions judges to appoint a separate court to hear the cases of juvenile prisoners in Adiala Jail on a priority basis.

They have also directed the appointment of an administrative judge to examine the care of juvenile inmates.

The chief justice has ordered the chief commissioner of Islamabad to provide a special van to the Adiala Jail administration by Monday for the incarcerated teenage children.

The superintendent of the jail has also been directed to appoint a good officer in the barracks of juvenile prisoners.

The CJ has directed the chairperson of the National Commission for Human Rights to establish and notify the Adiala Jail Complaint Cell under his supervision, in which a judge from the district judiciary, a bar representative and the president of the Islamabad High Court Journalists Association will be its members.

It has also been directed to create a mechanism to provide free legal aid to the inmates of Adiala Jail who cannot afford a lawyer.

The sessions judges have also been instructed to introduce a case e-file system for prisoners.

Chief Justice Minallah, Justice Kayani, Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb, Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, Session Judge East Atta Rabbani, Session Judge West Tahir Mehmood Khan, Chairperson National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) Rabiya Javeri Agha visited Adiala Jail. Islamabad High Court Journalists Association President Saqib Bashir were also present.

Chief Justice IHC Ather Minallah appreciated the efforts of the NCHR for compiling “NCHR Inquiry Report on Torture Allegation by Prisoners Incarcerated in Central Jail Rawalpindi.”

Judges, including the CJ, visited the barracks of death row inmates, women and juveniles of Adiala Jail.

They also visited the hospital, canteen, and meeting places.

Chief Justice Minallah directed the IG prisons and the superintendent of Adiala Jail to take steps to inform the prisoners of their rights by translating them into Urdu.

During a visit to the barracks, the female prisoners complained at 2 o'clock that they had been waiting since 6 o'clock in the morning and the food had not been served yet. The CJ ordered the provision of food to the women immediately.

A minor inmate complained that he had bought a stolen dog and returned it and even then he was still in jail.

Hearing this, Chief Justice Minallah and Justice Kayani instructed the session judges that they wanted all the files of these under-aged children by tomorrow and those with such cases would be released with short notice.

IG prisons said that Class A has been abolished, and Class B and Class C remain.

A prisoner complained that even today all work is done through money, and even drugs also come. If they do not give money, then they say it is not in the law, the prisoner added.

IG Prisons Malik Mubashir and Adiala Jail Superintendent Ijaz Asghar briefed the judges.

IHC Chief Justice acknowledged the visible improvement in Central Jail administration but also pointed out the room for further improvement. Jail authorities have improved work and hope it will improve further, he added.

However, he noted, there are still some complaints from the prisoners, and there is a lot of corruption inside the prison, besides violations of human rights. Those who complain are also harassed here, and corruption, beating, abusing them, taking away the belongings of the prisoners is also unethical, he added.

The CJ directed the superintendent that the culture will change gradually, and discipline has to be maintained.

Justice Kayani said that there should be such a mechanism that the bail of the prisoner can be notified online from the district court.

Superintendent Asghar told the chief justice that within the last two weeks, a petitioner had misbehaved with three officials. A gang of 15 or 20 people threatens their opponents in public, he added.

The chief justice said that there should be no corruption and torture during detention, though action could be taken according to the jail manual.

Demanding money at every step would be overcome with time, he remarked.
The jail officials said that the staff members were short for 6,300 prisoners in jail.

There are 6,300 prisoners in the jail, and there is one doctor for men, two doctors for women, and four doctors are needed in the prison for the day, they added.

Justice Kayani said that more than 1,600 prisoners are also from Islamabad.

“Why does the federal government not keep its doctors here?” he wondered.

The IG prisons said that steps taken to improve the conditions of prisoners. They said that the Punjab government is establishing five model jails in Punjab with an expenditure of Rs60 million.