Tihar inmates prayers answered

By Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 9.

By presenting their charter of demands to the Chief Justice of India, Dr Justice A.S. Anand, during his visit to Tihar Jail here on July 29, the inmates appear to have done immense good not only to themselves but also to other prisoners across the country. In the first major step towards obviating the grievances of the prisoners, the procedure of ``filing and perusing of matter in Supreme Court for justice'' has been streamlined.

The Tihar inmates are upbeat that their grievances have been redressed by the Supreme Court. The Registrar of the Supreme Court has informed the Director General (Prisons), Mr Ajay Agrawal, about the improvements which have been brought about in the system of complaints, which were pointed out through a circular dated August 23.

The circular states that many of the inmates had complained that when they send jail petitions or appeals to the courts, these are listed without their being given sufficient notice or intimation. Because of this, the prisoners were unable to communicate with their amicus curiae (friends of the court) advocates.

Since the inmates had also complained that they do not get a feedback on the outcome of their petitions, applications and letters, the circular -- which has been circulated among Jail Superintendents -- states that it has been decided that unless it is a matter of short-term sentence, the moment a jail petition is received, an acknowledgement of receipt of petition will be sent.

Simultaneously, the Jail authorities have been asked to make necessary enquiries from Supreme Court Legal Services Committee within three days to know if or not the application for legal assistance has been received.

The dealing assistants have been instructed to contact the Committee and place the matter before the Registrar for appointment of amicus curiae if the committee referred to has not already provided legal assistance from their panel. The amicus curiae will be informed about his appointment through a letter which will bear his name, complete address and telephone numbers as also the complete address of the jail wherein the accused is lodged.

As per the procedure, after the Paper Book is ready, date shall be taken from Listing Branch of not less than three weeks and the amicus curiae will be intimated about the date when the matter would come up for hearing. A copy of this letter would also be sent to the accused at sufficient notice.

The circular states that the accused shall be kept informed of the proceedings and stages from time to time and specially when they make enquiries regarding their matters. And should any difficulty be faced by the Registry in making the matter ready during the processing of application, the same would also be communicated to the accused, who would be asked to remove the deficiency.

Finally, the accused shall also be intimated about the listings from time to time and a copy of the final judgment or order will also be sent to them. Likewise, copies of all correspondence made by the apex court in their case with the High Court/Trial Court and Amicus Curiae will also be sent to them.

The circular has brought cheer to the inmates, who earlier remained in the dark about the status of their appeals. And it has also given rise to hope among inmates since this matter was just one of the many demands which had figured in their representation to the Chief Justice of India.

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