NHRC Issues Notice to Bihar Govt Over Deplorable State of Prisons
The NHRC has issued notices to the Chief Secretary and DG of Prisons of Bihar and asked for a response within 4 weeks
advertisement
The National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to the Bihar government over the reported deplorable conditions prevailing in the prisons of the state.
Taking suo motu cognizance of an exhaustive report titled Prisons of Bihar–Status Report 2015 prepared by activist and researcher, Smita Chakraburtty, the Commission has issued notices to the Chief Secretary, Director General of Prisons and the government of Bihar and asked for a response within four weeks.
Smita Chakraburtty was assigned the project by Justice VN Sinha, Judge of Patna High Court and Executive Chairman of Bihar State Legal Services Authority. She was asked to visit all the 58 prisons of Bihar to study the living conditions and submit a report.
The Commission observed:
Reportedly, Chakraburtty interviewed as many as 30,070 inmates during her study. The final report was released on 15 November 2015.
The report highlights the absence of medical facilities in prisons, particularly for women. It throws light on the denial of basic human rights of prisoners in Bihar and points to the urgent need for prison reforms across the country.
Instances of forced labour on undertrials, which is punishable under the IPC, and need of medical and psychiatric help to the inmates were also underlined in the report.
The exhaustive study also brought to the fore issues of punishment of prisoners under the discretionary powers provided by the Prison Manual Rules without supervision by an appellate body.
Denial of free legal aid counsel to undertrials was also talked about, as it pointed out that very few advocates meet the undertrials in the court and they go unrepresented when produced before the Magistrate.