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In 2020, Stan Swamy — also an accused in the Elgaar Parishad case — was denied a sipping cup. The elderly Swamy suffered from Parkinson's disease and could not grasp a glass. He died in custody, still an accused awaiting a verdict. Comedy, the cliché goes, is tragedy plus time. But the tragic absurdities that mark the Indian penal system have managed to show that the reverse too can be true. Gautam Navlakha — an accused in the Elgaar Parishad case – moved the Bombay High Court because of the alleged mistreatment he has faced in Taloja jail. Among other basic facilities, Navlakha was twice denied a copy of a book by 20th century English humourist PG Wodehouse: Jokes at the expense of English aristocracy, it seems, are a “security risk” in India. The high court called the prison’s high-handedness “really comical”, while pulling up the jail authorities for the many lapses in their treatment of Navlakha.
Unfortunately, it is no laughing matter. It is also part of a disturbing pattern. In 2020, Stan Swamy — also an accused in the Elgaar Parishad case — was denied a sipping cup. The elderly Swamy suffered from Parkinson’s disease and could not grasp a glass. He died in custody, still an accused awaiting a verdict. Navlakha, in the same year, was not allowed to take possession of a pair of reading glasses for over three weeks.
Those who have read Wodehouse can attest to the joy he provides. Full of farce and silliness, the adventures at Blandings Castle, the hijinks of Jeeves and Wooster and the musings of Mr Mulliner are the perfect antidote to melancholy. The obvious criticism of jail authorities could be that they don’t know what they seek to ban. Perhaps. But the more important question is why they sought to prevent a senior citizen from reading — the second time in almost as many years — while he is incarcerated. The likely answer to that question tells a sad tale about the Indian carceral system. And not even Wodehouse can make light of it.
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