Nitish Kumar must weed out Jungle Raj from Bihar prisons
Speedy trials and special courts may have ensured faster disposal of long-standing cases in Bihar, but "lawlessness" inside jails remains a big challenge for the Nitish Kumar government.
A few recent incidents involving VIP inmates and prison officials seem to indicate that nothing has changed in the jails over the years. Raj Ballabh Yadav, a suspended Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) legislator lodged in the Biharsharif jail in a rape case, is alleged to have hosted a sumptuous feast for fellow prisoners to celebrate Holi.
In Siwan jail, former RJD MP Mohammad Shahabuddin played host to a Bihar minister, laying out a lavish spread of snacks for him during their meeting. In Kishanganj, a jail superintendent was caught on camera, what seemed like molesting the daughter of a contractor. During investigations, all these allegations, prima facie, were found to be true. This resulted in the arrest of one prison official and suspension of many others on the charge of violation of the jail manual.
Chief minister Nitish has issued a directive for stern action against the officials found guilty of flouting the prescribed norms, leaving the inspectorate of prisons with the onerous task of restoring order behind the bars.
As of now, most prisons in the state are packed more than their capacity. Large-scale arrests of criminals and inordinate delay in the disposal of cases in recent years have swelled the number of inmates in all the jails. Many of them happen to be high profile prisoners wielding considerable clout.
This is, of course, not a new phenomenon. The jails in Bihar, as a matter of fact, have always been notorious for letting VIP prisoners have access to several facilities that are otherwise deemed unlawful.
Search operations in different jails over the years have established the fact time and again that many convicts and undertrials keep cell phones with or without the knowledge of the prison staff. Worse, many incarcerated gangsters are accused of running extortion rackets from their prison cells with the help of mobile phones.
It, therefore, did not come as a big surprise when a ruling party legislator was charged with hosting a mutton party inside the prison the other day. Nor was it baffling to see a former MP, convicted in a murder case, treating his guest inside the jail.
Reports of unfettered "freedom" inside the jails of Bihar had once prompted the Supreme Court to order shifting of a VIP prisoner to the Tihar jail in Delhi. The situation in Bihar began to change when the Nitish government took over a decade ago but, as the recent incidents suggest, a proper mechanism to check violation of rules still eludes Bihar jails.
The prison department has now undertaken the process to restore order inside the 55 jails across the state. Apart from the suspension and arrest of lax officials, it has set out to install cell phone jammers, check smuggling of contraband items and construct additional watchtowers to keep a vigil on the activity of the inmates.
The department has also decided to set up a telephone booth for the prisoners where all calls would be recorded. IG (Prisons) Anand Kishore, who visited the Beur model central jail in Patna to take stock of the situation, has promised action against any prison staff who provides any facility beyond what is prescribed in the jail manual to any inmate.
This must not remain a mere promise. The Nitish government needs to ensure that no convict or undertrial, regardless of his political clout, gets any special privileges while serving his prison term. Prompt action against erring prison officials is definitely a welcome step and should act as a deterrent for their colleagues. However, it must also ensure a regular monitoring of the prisons and the jail manual must be followed both in letter and spirit.
(Courtesy of Mail Today.)