Jaipur: A division bench of Rajasthan High Court on Friday asked the state govt to submit a report exploring the possibilities of shifting the present jails in populated areas to outside the city. Along with this, the court also asked the govt to submit a reply on the compliance of the detailed instructions given earlier on 45 points related to the jails concerning safety, security, checking of inmates, and other points. The division bench of Justice Inderjeet Singh and Justice Vinod Kumar Bharwani gave this order while hearing the suo motu cognizance taken in the case.
During the hearing, Amicus Curiae Prateek Kasliwal said that criminals are running the network through mobile phones from inside the jail. "A few months ago, a threatening call was made to chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma from inside the jail. Apart from this, Lawrence Bishnoi even gave a video interview from inside the jail. Many under-trials talk to their lawyers from inside the jail. In such a situation, it cannot be denied that criminals are using mobile phones inside the jail," Kasliwal said.
He added that the state govt has not yet responded to the conditions of jammers installed at various jails in the state. "It is found that there are no proper arrangements for the storage of recordings of CCTV cameras installed for monitoring inside the jail. Likewise, the number of jail guards is very less compared to number of inmates lodged. Also, it is seen that the salaries of jail guards are lesser than that of cops of the same rank. Hence, jail guards are leaving their jobs," he added. "There should be frisking, metal detectors, X-ray machines, and others inside the jail, and the inmates who return to jail after court appearances should be checked properly," Kasliwal said.
Kasliwal added that all the jails in the state are in areas that are densely populated. "Why can't these jails be shifted to places which are not densely populated? Moreover, the space of these jails can be utilised for govt offices," he added.