The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the Director General (Prisons) to decide a representation on the purported lack of facilities for lawyers visiting their clients in jails.
‘Expedite process’
The court disposed of the plea over the issue and directed the jail authority to decide the representation expeditiously, preferably within four weeks.
It noted that the Delhi government was not ready to make any investments. “They collect no taxes, they spend no taxes. Their policy is simple — ‘We collect nothing, we spend nothing’,” the court remarked.
The petition was filed by Shyam Sunder Aggarwal, who sought directions to the authorities concerned for providing various facilities to lawyers visiting undertrials and convicts on the Tihar jail premises.
The petitioner had come across various issues during his Tihar jail visits, including how advocates had to wait outside in extreme weather conditions for a minimum of an hour to meet their clients.
‘Lacks basic amenities’
He said that there are no arrangements for basic civic amenities such as clean drinking water and toilets in all the 16 jails in the Tihar complex, and claimed that no parking facility has been provided for advocates despite several acres of land lying vacant.
The petitioner said several of his pleas to the Bar Council of India and Bar Council of Delhi, fell on deaf ears, whereas a representation made to the Director General (Prisons), elicited no response.
Published – November 05, 2024 01:10 am IST