Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Nov 3: Before entertaining and admitting to further hearing the PIL seeking repatriation of under trial prisoners lodged in outside jails of Jammu and Kashmir, the High Court has sought clearance and clarification from the Counsel as to how the present petition is maintainable as Public Interest Litigation.
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The Division Bench of Chief Justice and Justice Rajnesh Oswal has questioned the counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner as to how the plea filed is maintainable as PIL. “How the issue involved in the petition is in Public Interest. Satisfy the court first.”, the bench questioned. However, the counsel could not give a satisfactory answer and submitted for adjourning the matter by two weeks.
The former Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDA) present Mehbooba Mufti moved the court seeking repatriation of under-trial prisoners lodged in jails outside J&K. As per the petitioner- Mufti, the continued detention of J&K undertrial prisoners in jails located hundreds of kilometers away violates their fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14 and 21.
The court today raised various questions to the petitioner-counsel with regard to public Interest involved in the matter. The court during the proceedings of the case observed that it can be said to be every individual’s issue. If any under trial is having any difficulty, he can approach the court but how it can be construed as public interest.
Mufti has approached the High Court by way of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking urgent judicial intervention for the repatriation of undertrial prisoners belonging to J&K who are currently lodged in prisons outside the Union Territory.
“…the continued detention of J&K undertrial prisoners in jails located hundreds of kilometres away violates their fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India, including the right to family contact, effective access to legal counsel and the right to a speedy and meaningful trial”, she submitted.
It has been contended in the petition that the post-August 5, 2019 numerous residents of J&K facing investigation or trial were lodged in prisons far from the Union Territory, causing severe disruption to their legal and personal rights.
“Most of the under trials cannot meet their family as the cost of such travels is enormous and is not possible to travel on a regular basis making the process of trial itself a punishment. Many trials involve voluminous evidence and large witness lists, requiring sustained, private, document-based consultation between lawyer and client and this becomes impossible in practice when the undertrial is housed in a far-off State prison,” the PIL read.
As such she through her counsel urged for intervention of court asserting that the continued practice of out-of-State incarceration of undertrials constitutes punishment by process and is contrary to both domestic and international standards for the treatment of prisoners as also against the Model Prison Manual, which guarantees humane treatment, family access, and effective legal assistance to under-trials, all of which are being systematically undermined by current practices.
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