HC urges govt to build more jails to check overcrowding

Cuttack: The Orissa high court on Friday asked the state government to take a policy decision at the earliest to initiate prompt corrective measures and build more jails to deal with the problem of overcrowding.“Such policy decision has to be taken as expeditiously as possible,” the two-judge bench of acting Chief Justice B R Sarangi and Justice M S Raman said while hearing a PIL on overcrowding and other problems in state’s jails.“When somebody is put behind the bar as a convict or UTP (undertrial prisoner) or kept in judicial custody, it is the first and foremost responsibility of the government to treat him/her equally with the general public outside the jail premises as he/she is first a human being and a citizen of India,” the bench observed, taking note of submissions of amicus curiae Gautam Mishra.“As such, the UTPs are facing a lot of difficulties because of overcrowding. That apart, the jails or sub-jails in most of the places were constructed much prior to bifurcation of the districts, but due to growth in population as well as crime, it is highly essential to have new sub-jails, special jails or district jails in different locations, so that the overcrowding can be managed by shifting the convicts and UTPs to the nearby jails,” the bench further observed.It sought an affidavit from the state government on the issue by December 21, the next date of hearing. The court directed the health department to take necessary steps to conduct periodical medical check-up of the convicts and UTPs in each jail and furnish reports.

Undertrial 'hangs' self in Jajpur sub-jail

A 30-year-old undertrial prisoner, Balaram Behera, arrested in a rape case, was found hanging in an under-construction building at the sub-jail in Ragadi, Jajpur district. He allegedly hanged himself with a towel. Jail authorities shifted him to CHC Korei, where doctors declared him dead. Police sent the body to the district headquarters hospital in Jajpur for autopsy.

Regions jails overcrowded, occupancy below natl avg

Despite being overcrowded, the jails in the region comprising Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and the Union Territory of Chandigarh still have a below national average occupancy, according to data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Haryana has the maximum occupancy in the region at 121.6% against capacity, followed by Punjab at 116%, Himachal Pradesh at 114%, and Chandigarh at 106.7%. The NCRB released this data for 2022. Punjabs 26 prisons include 10 central jails, 7 district jails, 5 sub-jails, 2 womens jails, 1 borstal, and 1 open jail. Haryanas 20 prisons include 3 central jails and 17 district jails, while HPs 16 prisons include 2 central jails, 9 district jails, 3 sub-jails, 1 borstal, and 1 open jail. Chandigarh has only a central jail at Burail, while the country has 1,330 jails.