Friday, 28 July 2023 | PNS | NAINITAL
The Uttarakhand High Court has directed the State government to form a prison development board within 10 days. The division bench of chief justice Vipin Sanghi and justice Rakesh Thapliyal issued this order while hearing a public interest litigation regarding the lack of CCTV cameras and proper basic facilities in the prisons of the State.
The Prisons minister will be the chairman of this board, the chief secretary will be the vice-chairman and it will include the principal secretaries of Home, Finance, Revenue, Justice secretary, director general of police, DG (Prisons) and two persons nominated by the State government of which one will be a woman. The State government has been directed to form this board and inform the court about it. The case has been set for hearing next on August 23.
The counsel representing the government stated that a number of new prisons are being constructed in the State with the construction of the Pithoragarh jail over. The construction of Udham Singh Nagar jail is 43 per cent complete while the construction of the Haldwani jail is 55 per cent complete. Doctors and psychiatrists will be hired for the jails on contract basis. The HC directed the Public Works Department to expedite the task of constructing the jails.
It will be recalled that Santosh Upadhyay and others had filed separate PILs stating that the Supreme Court had issued an order in 2015 directing all States to install CCTV cameras in the prisons in the State along with providing basic facilities in the prisons. It was also ordered that vacant posts in the human rights commission in the State should be filled. However, many years have passed since the issuance of the orders by the Supreme Court but the government has not yet implemented these orders, the petitioners contended. They have appealed to the court to direct the State government to implement the orders of the apex court.
