Install CCTV cameras inside jails: High Court

Legal Correspondent

Shimla, April 26

With a view to ensuring discipline within the jails, the HP High Court has directed the state install CCTV cameras with night vision facility and having eighteen months’ storage in all the police stations and jails in in state within three months.

The court further ordered that CCTV installation(s) would be monitored by concerned Superintendent (Jails) or under his directions by other officers on a day-to-day basis ensuring that no incident of use of mobile cell phones by any prisoner was detected.

Justice Ranjan Sharma further directed the Inspector General (Prisons) to ensure that all CCTV footages are monitored at least once a week and records of monitoring be maintained. The court also ordered that officers of jail administration, including warden and other staff deployed inside jail(s) on rotation duty or otherwise, should use ‘dedicated mobile handsets’.

It further added that each Superintendent (Jails) would ensure that only ‘dedicated mobile-cell phone or landline’ is/are permitted to be used by prisoner(s) to establish social tie ups with their family members and record whereof be also maintained.

Ensuring discipline outside jails, the court ordered to work out the mechanism to ensure that police officials, who are deployed with prisoners for taking them to trial/court or hospital or other purposes outside the jails, would use ‘dedicated cell-mobile phone”, which would be paired with the dedicated mobile handset of each Superintendent (Jail) and an authorised police official (concerned SHO/IO etc) to ensure that such prisoners do not misuse their liberty/concession.

The court passed this order after hearing the bail of an accused, who is allegedly involved in an attempt to murder case. It was brought to the notice of the court that the main accused, who is presently lodged in Central Jail, Ludhiana, for some other offences, used the mobile phone during judicial custody to contact the bail petitioner.

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