LFHRI files Public Interest Litigation for inquiry into the corruption in jail.

LFHRI files Public Interest Litigation for inquiry into corruption in Karnal Jail, District Haryana, India.

S Y N O P S I S

1.	That the petitioner No.1 organisation is a Human Rights Organisation comprising of only lawyers who are committed for upholding the human rights of the citizens. The organisation provides free legal aid to the people who are unable to approach the courts for justice due to their poverty or backwardness or due to fear of reprisal from the violators.
2.	That the petitioner No.2 is a prisoner undergoing life imprisonment in Karnal Jail, who is a witness to the rampant and corruption and human rights violations inside the jail.
3.	That the petitioner No.2 approached the petitioner No.1 organisation for airing the grievances of the prisoners of Karnal Jail, who cannot approach this Hon’ble Court due to fear to their life at the hands of the mighty and corrupt jail officials and so the petitioner No.1 is joining the petitioner NO.2 for ensuring that even in the case of threat, the rights of the prisoners are protected.
4.	That the petitioner No.2 has reported various violations in the Karnal Jail in providing of food, clothing and rampant and corruption in the distribution of the essential items which are to be provided free to the prisoners. For each parole application being successfully processed the prisoners have to pay heavy amount. The prisoners who speak against the highhandedness are put to solitary confinement and are kept without food for days together and they are beaten up and stripped naked and subjected to mental and physical torture. Hence the present petition for protection of their rights through the present Public Interest Litigation.

(NAVKIRAN SINGH)

CHANDIGARH: (RUBINA N.SINGH)(GURSIMRAN SINGH)

A D V O C A T E S

DATED:05.07.2010 COUNSEL FOR THE PETITIONERS

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

Civil Writ Petition No.____/2010

(Public Interest Litigation)

1. Lawyers for Human Rights International (Regd), Office at Kothi No.516, Sector 11-B, Chandigarh through its Member Sanjeev Banga Advocate.

2. Vakil Raj @ Raja s/o Preet Singh,

R/o village & Post Office Rajound,

District Kaithal.

. . . Petitioners

Versus

1. State of Haryana through Home Secretary,

Civil Secretariat, Chandigarh.

2. Director General of Police(Prisons) Haryana,

Panchkula.

3. Superintendent, District Jail, Karnal.

. . . Respondents

Public Interest Litigation petition under Articles 226/227 of Constitution of India for issuance of a writ of Mandamus or any other writ, order or directions, with the prayer that this Hon’ble Court may direct an enquiry from C.B.I. or Judicial Authority into the allegations of human rights violations and corruption charges against the jail staff of District Jail Karnal.

ii) With the further prayer that this Hon’ble Court may direct Sessions Judge (Vigilance) Punjab or any other officer of this Hon’ble Court to conduct a surprise raid at District Jail Karnal to verify the allegations made in the present petition which are the personal knowledge of the petitioner No.2.

. . .

Respectfully showeth:-

That the petitioner No.1 organization is comprised of Lawyers who are practicing in this Hon’ble Court as well as the Districts Courts of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. Though the organization has membership throughout the world, however the units of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh are actively involved in upholding of Human Rights and rule of law through Public Interest Litigations and by providing free legal aid to the persons who are unable to afford litigation. The organization also trains and disseminates Human Rights knowledge through seminars and workshops. The organization does not accept any grants nationally or inter-nationally and the members of the organization make expenditure from their own earnings. The petitioner organization is also part of the International Campaign against Death Penalty and ratification of the treaty for formation of International Criminal Court at Hague. So the petitioner No.1 organization is competent to invoke the extra ordinary jurisdiction of this Hon’ble Court by way of the Public Interest Litigation under Articles 226/227 of Constitution of India in the present matter of public importance.
That the petitioner No.2 is a citizen of India and is resident of District Kaithal as such, he is also entitled to invoke the extra ordinary writ jurisdiction of this Hon’ble Court under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India.

3. The petitioner No.2 is undergoing life sentence in case FIR No.51 dated 11.4.2002 registered under Section 302 IPC at Police Station Alewa, District Jind and he was arrested on 12.4.2002 and was convicted on 1.3.2005. While the petitioner was on parole he got involved in another murder case i.e. FIR No.84 of 2003 under Section 307/302 IPC of Police Station Alewa, District Jind in which he was convicted for life on 24.9.2005. Both these cases are outcome of family feuds.

4. That the petitioner No.2 approached the petitioner No.1 organisation on 3.7.2010 and he disclosed that in the district jail Karnal there was rampant corruption and the staff of the jail were violated the human rights of the prisoners with impunity. The petitioner No.1 organisation video graphed the whole interview of the petitioner No.2 and since the allegations are serious in nature and many prisoners back out from their allegations, the petitioner No.1 organisation being committed to upholding the human rights and rule of law opted to become co-petitioner in order to ensure that the process of law is not frustrated by the violators by putting pressures upon the petitioner No.2.

5. That the petitioner No.2 informed the petitioner No.1 organisation the below given corruption and human right violations instances which the petitioners are craving indulgence of this Hon’ble Court to be enquired into:-

i.) That there are around 5 kitchens in the whole of District Jail Karnal and for each kitchen, which feeds a particular number of prisoners ration is dispatched in the evening from the store. The ration which is dispatched in the evening in the records of the store is atleast 5 times more than what is actually received in the kitchen. Resultantly the prisoners either have to survive with less food or are forced to purchase the raw food from the canteen, which supplies food items on demand and in this canteen part of the food items which are emblazed in the process by the jail staff is sold to the prisoners at higher rates. In this manner firstly the jail officials are able to embezzle the food items and then sell the food items at higher rates. This process earns them lacs of rupees on the monthly basis.

ii) That the Government of Haryana through Prison Department has provided the facility of supplying of clothes and other necessary articles including footwear to all the prisoners. On records such articles are shown to be distributed free of charge, whereas such articles are sold from the canteen being run by the jail and the prisoners have to pay for the free articles and the money is pocketed by the jail staff.

iii) That there is rampant corruption and all the prisoners have to pay for getting their paroles decided in a positive manner and for procuring positive police reports from the office of District Magistrate.

iv) That the prisoners who try to complain against the highhandedness of the prisons staff and the incidents of corruption, they are made to suffer physical torture. The petitioner No.2 when made such a report to the learned Sessions Judge Karnal on a his visit to Karnal Jail on 30.5.2008 through a petition was given a date of hearing before the learned Sessions Judge on 3.6.2008, however he was not produced till 5.6.2008 and during the said period from 30.5.2008 till 5.6.2008 he was kept in solitary confinement and in a naked condition and he was given bare minimum food and was forced to live in unhygienic conditions and was threatened to worst treatment in case he does not take his complaint back. So when the petitioner No.2 was produced before the learned Sessions Judge on 5.6.2008 and the petitioner No.2 took his complaint back under the pressure of the prison officials.

v) That there is a box fixed inside the jail in which the prisoners can file their complaint with the learned Sessions Judge Karnal, however the same is under the control of the jail staff and before any complaint can reach learned Sessions Judge the same goes through scrutiny of the jail staff and in the event of the complaint, the prisoner who has made a complaint has to suffer mental and physical torture.

vi) That the monthly visits by the learned Sessions Judge or any other high dignitary is always with advance notice to the jail and on that day everything goes as per the books in the jail and the best food is prepared to show the visiting official. No prisoner who has the guts to complaint against the prison staff is allowed to meet the said official. So the complaints of the prisoners go unheard and they suffer in isolation.

vii) That the medicines which are available in the hospital being run inside the jail are substandard and there is a big racket of the pilferage of the medicines.

6. That the petitioner No.2 would like to inform the court that there are prisoners who are ready to speak against the atrocities the corruption which is rampant in the jail, however there is a need to ensure the safety of the prisoners, who would come forward to depose. The petitioner No.2 is ready to risk his life for bringing to light the highhandedness and corrupt means adopted by the jail officials towards the prisoners. The petitioner No.2 not only knows that he will be running the risk of being physically harmed inside the jail, but can also be harmed through hired assassins who are already available inside and outside the jail to the jail officials. The petitioner No.2 wants to face the risk of his life of being a whistle blower, but he wants to unmask the corrupt officials.

7. That the petitioner No.2 is on parole till 9.7.2010 and is ready to accompany any officer deputed by this Hon’ble Court for conducting a surprise raid, so that the jail officials are caught red handed. Since any enquiry after notice to the State would not be able to yield the same results as a surprise raid.

8. That the issues involved in the present case are very serious in nature and the working of the Karnal Jail is just an example of how things are working in the jails, especially in Haryana. Nobody can claim a corruption free society; however only an attempt can be made to minimize it and the present petition is also an attempt to reduce the corruption and highhandedness in the jails of Haryana and to make the system accountable as well as transparent.

9. That the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India through its landmarked judgment “Sunil Batra Vs. State of Delhi” as reported in AIR 1980 S.C. page 1579, held that the prisoners do not lose their fundamental rights while incarceration. Right to life and liberty as enshrined under Article 21 of Constitution of India enshrines every citizen a right to life with human dignity and not a mere animal existence. The prisoners have a right to healthy environment, good food and clean clothing. No torture or mental harassment can be allowed in the jails.

10. That the Punjab Jail Manual as adopted by the State of Haryana under Chapter XXXII prescribed the diet to the prisoners and the scale of the diet is fixed and it is also the duty of the medical officer of the jail to ensure the quality of the food which is being provided to the prisoners.

11. That the clothing, bedding and other equipment are detailed in Chapter XXXIV of the Jail Manual. So everything is codified under the Punjab Jail Manual, however the same is being violated by the Jail Department with impunity.

12. That the present Public Interest Litigation is being filed for the betterment of all the prisoners who are detained in Karnal jail, for ensure their fundamental rights.

13. That the main law points involved in the writ petition are:-

i) As to whether the fundamental rights of citizens incarceration as provided under Article 21 of Constitution of India are liable to be protected.

ii.) As to whether the denial of basic human rights, like right to food and clothing are violative of Article 14 and 16 of Constitution of India.

iii) As to whether the circumstances warrant an enquiry and surprise raid to control the menace of corruption and human right violations in the Karnal Jail.

14. That there is no other remedy either by appeal or revision is available with the petitioners except to approach this Hon’ble Court by way of filing the present writ petition.

15. That no such or similar petition has earlier been filed by the petitioners in this Hon’ble Court or in the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.

16. That the documents attached with the writ petition are true copies of the originals as required under Rule 22 of the Writ Jurisdiction Rules.

In the light of the above given circumstances of the case, it is, therefore, respectfully prayed that this Hon’ble Court may be pleased to issue a writ of Mandamus or any other writ order or directions in the below terms:-

i) that this Hon’ble Court may direct an enquiry from C.B.I. or Judicial Authority into the allegations of human rights violations and corruption charges against the jail staff of District Jail Karnal.

ii) With the further prayer that this Hon’ble Court may direct Sessions Judge (Vigilance)Punjab or any other officer of this Hon’ble Court to conduct a surprise raid at District Jail Karnal to verify the allegations made in the present petition which are the personal knowledge of the petitioner No.2.

iii) with a further prayer that this Hon’ble Court may kindly pass any other appropriate writ, order or direction which deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case;

iv) advance notice of the writ petition to the respondents may kindly be dispensed with;

v) the writ petition may be accepted as prayed for;

(P E T I T I O N E R S)

T H R O U G H

(NAVKIRAN SINGH)

CHANDIGARH: (RUBINA N.SINGH)(GURSIMRAN SINGH)

A D V O C A T E S

DATED:05.07.2010 COUNSEL FOR THE PETITIONERS

Public Interest Litigations

LFHRI

LAWYERS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS INTERNATIONAL