New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Monday asked Director General (Prisons) to decide on a representation regarding the purported lack of facilities for lawyers visiting their clients in jails.
A bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela disposed of a plea over the issue and directed the jail authority to decide on the representation preferably within four weeks.
During the hearing, the court pointed out that Delhi govt was not making investments in improving facilities. "They collect no taxes, they spend no taxes. Their policy is simple, we collect nothing, we spend nothing," it remarked while hearing a plea by Shyam Sunder Aggarwal, who sought directions to authorities for providing various facilities to lawyers visiting undertrials and convicts in Tihar Jail.
After the petitioner's counsel argued that they were only seeking basic necessities, the bench agreed but said the govt did not have the money. Delhi govt standing counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi submitted that after he gave a report following his jail visit, the govt was ready to enhance the capacity to accommodate 20,000 inmates, up from the current capacity of 7,000 to 8,000.
Tripathi said a cost audit of jail premises was needed to make appropriate budgets. The bench, however, remarked, "We don't doubt your intent, but it must be implemented on the ground level. The problem is that there is no plan and nothing gets implemented. There has to be a sanction plan, which is still not there."
The petitioner reportedly came across various issues during his Tihar Jail visit, including waiting outside in extreme weather conditions for a minimum of an hour or two to meet clients. He said there were no arrangements for basic civic amenities such as clean drinking water and toilets in all the 16 jails in Tihar complex and claimed no parking facility was provided for advocates despite several acres of land lying vacant.
The petitioner said his pleas to Bar Council of India and Bar Council of Delhi fell on deaf ears, and a representation made to DG (Prisons) on Sept 5 elicited no response.