Chhattisgarh HC seeks govt's reply on jail conditions

Chhattisgarh High Court has issued notices to the Home Secretary, Police Headquarters and Directorate of Health Services on a PIL seeking directions to authorities to improve living conditions in jails in the state and provide better healthcare facilities to inmates.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Yatindra Singh and Justice Pritinkar Diwakar yesterday heard the PIL filed by one Shivraj Singh, the petitioner's lawyer, Sunil Pilley, told PTI today.
According to the litigation, jails in the state were overcrowded with each of them housing inmates over double their capacity. This violates the human rights of prisoners who are deprived of basic facilities, he said.

Chhattisgarh has 27 prisons, including five central jails located in Bilaspur, Raipur, Ambikapur, Durg and Jagdalpur.
"Bilaspur Central jail has a capacity to house 650 inmates but surprisingly 2,300 prisoners are being kept there," he said, quoting from the litigation.
According to Madhya Pradesh Prison Rules, 1968, (adopted by Chhattisgarh after it came into existence in 2000) each prisoner should be provided with basic facilities like a place for sleeping and toilets among others. These rules were not being followed anywhere in the state, Pilley said.
The PIL claimed jail administrations were not serious about providing health facilities and no routine medical check up of inmates was being conducted.

After hearing the PIL, the court asked the Home Secretary, Police Headquarters and Directorate of Health Services to file their reply within a month on the issues raised in the petition, he said.