Devender Pal Singh Bhullar is in appalling conditions in a jail very far from his native place for the long time. He is entitled to be near his home so that his family can see him. An application was submitted seeking the Transfer Of Devender Pal Singh Bhullar From Tihar Jail To Any Jail In Punjab. Here is the copy of application.
To,
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The Home Secretary
Delhi.
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The Home Secretary
Punjab.
SUBJECT : APPLICATION SEEKING TRANSFER OF DEVENDER PAL SINGH BHULLAR FROM TIHAR JAIL TO ANY JAIL IN PUNJAB.
My client Devender Pal Singh Bhullar has been convicted by Designated court of Delhi on 25th Aug 2001, in case FIR No 316 of 1993 registered under section 320,307,326,436,120-B IPC and section 3,4,5 of TADA Act and section 3,4 Explosive Substances Act, Police Station Parliament street New Delhi. He was sentenced to Death by the said judgment.
My client is under restrictive custody as a condemned prisoner since 25th Aug 2001. His mercy petition is pending with the Hon’ble President of India since 14th Jan 2003. His long incarceration away from his home state has caused great harm to his Physical and Mental health and at the age of 46 years he is suffering from Depression since 4 Years, Hypertension since 6 Years and Arthritis and Cervical since 4 years. Out of the total 24 Hours of a day he spends almost 22 hours in his 7 x 9 feet cell, suffering a slow death as a condemned prisoner in the special cell No- 2 of Tihar Jail No – 3, New Delhi.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has held in a number of judgments that a prisoner should be detained near to his home, so that he can be visited oftener by his family and friends, so that the rehabilitative process may not be hampered. Two of the land mark judgments are as below:-
SUNIL BATRA VS DELHI ADMN…..AIR 1980 S.C PAGE 1579
“Pushing the prisoner into a solitary cell, denial of a necessary amenity, and, more dreadful sometimes, transfer to a distant prison where visits or society of friends or relations may be snapped, allotment of degrading labour, assigning him to a desperate or though gang and the like, may be punitive in effect. Every such affliction or abridgment is an infraction of liberty or life in its wider sense and cannot be sustained unless Art. 21 is satisfied”.
”Visits to prisoners by family and friends are a solace in insulation; and only a dehumanised system can derive vicarious delight in depriving prison inmates of this human amenity. Subject, of course, to search and discipline and other security criteria, the right to society of fellowmen, parents and other family members cannot be denied in the light of Art. 19 and its sweep. Moreover, the whole habilitative purpose of sentencing is to soften, not to harden and this will be promoted by more such meetings. A sullen, forlorn prisoner is a dangerous criminal in the making and the prison is the factory ! There is no reason why the right to be visited under reasonable restrictions, should not claim current constitutional status. Subject to considerations of security and discipline, liberal visits by family members, close friends and legitimate callers, are part of the prisoners’ kit of right and shall be respected”.
A.K ROY VS UNION OF INDIA……AIR 1982 S.C PAGE 710
“It is neither fair nor just that a detenu should have to suffer detention in “such place” as the Government may specify. The normal rule has to be that the detenu will be kept in detention in a place which is within the environs of his or her ordinary place of residence. Besides, keeping a person in detention in a place other than the one where he habitually resides makes it impossible for his friends and relatives to meet him or for the detenu to claim the advantage of facilities like having his own food. The requirements of administrative convenience, safety and security may justify in a given case the transfer of a detenu to a place other than where he ordinarily resides, but that can only be by way of an exception and not as a matter of general rule”.
Since under Section 3 of The Transfer of Prisoners Act 1950, a prisoner who is under sentence of Death and is confined in a prison in one state, can be transferred to another state, with the consent of the Government of any other state, I on behalf of my client who is detained in Tihar Jail No 3 in New Delhi to permit his transfer to any jail of Punjab, since my client is the permanent resident of Bhatinda and under gone his studies at Ludhiana Engineering College.
NAVKIRAN SINGH DATED: 17TH AUG 2009
ADVOCATE.