‘Cutting 50% earnings of inmates wrong’

MADURAI: The Madurai Bench held that the Rule 481 of Tamil Nadu Prison Rules 1983, to the extent of deducting 50 per cent of the prisoners’ wages, as unreasonable and unconstitutional.A division bench, comprising Justices K K Sasidharan and G R Swaminathan, passed the order while partly allowing a PIL by K R Raja of Madurai, seeking to declare the above rule as null and void. According to the rule, 50 per cent of the wages earned by the prisoners are deducted for their upkeep and 20 per cent for paying compensation to the victims.

While the judges held that apportioning 20 per cent of the wages for crediting to the victims compensation fund is reasonable, they rejected the contentions of the government that 50 percent deduction is insufficient to meet maintenance cost. “After fixing a wage that is not in consonance with provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, it is not open to the government to argue that even 50 per cent is insufficient,” they said.