Judicial custody warrants in Jodhpur to state that accused will be tested for coronavirus first

Presiding officers of all special courts under Jodhpur Metropolitan jurisdiction and subordinate courts have been directed to state it clearly in judicial custody warrants that every accused will be sent to jail only after being tested for coronavirus, officials said.

District and Session Judge Narsingh Das gave the direction following a request by the Superintendent of Jodhpur Central Jail as many of those being sent to judicial custody were from coronavirus hotspots and authorities were apprehensive about other jail inmates being infected.

The direction to mark the judicial custody warrants "in red ink" stating clearly that every accused will be sent to jail only after being tested for coronavirus will remain in force till further orders, they said.

Superintendent of jail Kailash Trivedi said that there has been a "steady influx" of accused during the lockdown period.

We have been receiving 5-6 accused daily and getting them screened for coronavirus infection at our level by sending them to the hospital, said Trivedi.

But with the spurt in cases lately and given the limited resources that we have, we appealed to the police administration and the judiciary that all these accused be screened before they are taken to jail for judicial custody, he said, adding that the appeal has already been granted.

About 80 accused, charged with various offences, have been remanded in Jodhpur Central Jail since the lockdown started.

Last month, inmates of the jail, who were demanding that they be released due to the risk of getting infected in prison, had written to the chief justice and even went on an indefinite hunger strike.