No end in sight: Proper uniforms for prisoners can prevent escape, say jail officials

Poor sanitary conditions at judicial lock-ups also an issue to be dealt with.

KARACHI: If the under-trial prisoners have proper uniforms, they will be easier to spot and it will be harder for them to escape, suggest prison officials.

The officials at City Courts in Karachi shared their tips on improving the City Court lock-ups to The Express Tribune. Former lock-up in-charge Muhammad Riaz Mughal suggested the need to have a dress code for the UTPs as a proper uniform could save the police from embarrassment.

Many UTPs have also escaped from the court premises in recent months by managing to find a way out when left outside because of overcrowded lock-ups, he added.

A prison van drives up at the City Courts to drop off under-trial prisoners for hearing.  PHOTOS: ATHAR KHAN/ EXPRESS

Meanwhile, lock-up in-charge Khalid Mehmood was of the view that it was negligence on part of the policemen. Sometimes, the official would change his route to and from the courtroom and at other times, some corrupt official would let the prisoner take a break for a meagre amount of Rs50 or Rs100 and then he would eventually flee. “My experience says it’s just the bad luck of the policeman on duty that particular day,” he said.

Dirty business

Despite the challenging conditions endured by inmates, the agony suffered by them during their few-hours stay at the City Courts lock-ups before their hearing is a testing experience as well.

Over 500 UTPs are daily crammed into the judicial lock-ups with poor sanitary conditions as there is no permanent sweeper hired by the authorities.

“The lock-up was built in 1940 for a few prisoners but it cannot meet the growing number of inmates,” said Mughal. “In the 1970s, my father served here and only 15 to 20 UTPs were brought in daily,” he recalled, adding that now more than 500 UTPs are produced for trial every day.



In addition, the lock-ups lack the facility of a landline phone. The seven rooms have attached toilets, which are filthy due to choked sewer lines, Mehmood pointed out. “One can’t stand inside the lock-up room when the sewerage lines are choked. We collect money and bring in a sweeper every day.”

Both the officials admitted that they haven’t seen a permanent sweeper in the last five years and every day they have to fetch someone from outside to clean the mess created by the inmates.

Mehmood was of the view the lock-ups lack the capacity and the force to manage such a large number of prisoners. He said that prisoners were kept inside the lock-ups in turns as only 250 people could be confined at a time. “We have to produce prisoners of 90 police stations in 108 courts with a force of just 130 men. We need over 200 policemen.”

Shortage of funds

Each district bar association is bound to provide free legal aid to the deserving litigants under the Legal Practitioners’ Act, 1976. The federal government had provided Rs2.5 million funds to the KBA to deal with cases of needy people this year.

“No such assistance has been provided to the prisoners during the current year,” said KBA president Naeem Qureshi. He said that the Legal Aid Office of the KBA has recently donated 13 fans and a water cooler for the staff and prisoners. “We have forwarded names of 100 lawyers to the relevant body but no lawyer has been authorised and the funds have yet to be released.”

Food for prisoners

A prisoner set to appear before the court should be fed by the jail authorities, however, this is not the case as the jail authorities send the inmates without any arrangements for their meal. “We don’t get any funds for prisoners’ meal. They are fed by Saylani Welfare Trust on the day of the hearing,” said Mughal. Jail authorities send food for the criminals who have to appear before the anti-terrorism courts, he added.

Lock-up expansion in limbo

In 2007, former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry visited the City Courts and expressed his displeasure over the packing of a large number of prisoners in the low-capacity lock-ups. He had ordered an immediate expansion of the lock-up facility.

The construction work for the judicial lock-up costing over Rs40 million took off but later it was stopped due to a row over the demolition of the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) lawyers chambers, who demanded resettlement before the completion of the project.

“Over a year has gone by without any construction work as the lawyers had obtained stay orders from the high court,” said Mehmood.

KBA president Naeem Qureshi told The Express Tribune the Sindh High Court dismissed the petition. It was decided that all 28 lawyers would be accommodated behind district East block.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2013.