Lawyers' meet with jailed clients; govt told to modernise

The Delhi High Court today asked the city government to consider giving facilities to lawyers to apply on-line with prison authorities for prior nod to have legal interviews with their jailed clients.
"Issue notice to Delhi government and others (including Secretary Home and Director General Prison). An affidavit shall be filed indicating the formalities for the counsel who visit jail...," a bench, comprisng acting Chief Justice B D Ahmed and Justice Siddharth Mridul, said.
The bench also asked Delhi government to examine and consider providing facilities for filing on-line applications to lawyers who want to visit jails for legal interviews with their imprisoned clients.

It said this will help lawyers who will not be made to wait outside the jail when their applications are being processed.
The government said security reasons were behind restricted legal interviews.
"You take your own security measures and why you curtail the right to have legal interviews," it said, adding Tihar is a model jail and the reform on the issue can be undertaken.
The court was hearing a PIL, filed by lawyer Amit Sahni, seeking quashing of a February 27 order of the Director General Prison by which legal interviews with inmates have been restricted to once in a week.