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Prisoners Forced To Do Jobs Like Cleaning Toilets Etc. Based On Caste: Rajasthan High Court Calls For Overhauling Of Prison Manual
Sparsh Upadhyay
19 Dec 2020 6:02 PM IST
Inquiring about the proposed steps for complete overhauling of the Prison Manual, the Rajasthan High Court on Thursday (17th December) asked the State Government to ensure that the prisoners are not forced to indulge in menial jobs like cleaning toilets etc. merely on the basis of their caste and also that no under trial prisoner is forced to perform such jobs in the prison. The Bench...
Inquiring about the proposed steps for complete overhauling of the Prison Manual, the Rajasthan High Court on Thursday (17th December) asked the State Government to ensure that the prisoners are not forced to indulge in menial jobs like cleaning toilets etc. merely on the basis of their caste and also that no under trial prisoner is forced to perform such jobs in the prison.
The Bench of Justice Devendra Kachhawaha and Justice Sandeep Mehta further directed,
"Considering the progressive democratic set up of our country and in order to ensure maintenance of proper hygiene in the prisons, it would be expedient in the interest of justice that the State Government considers installation of mechanized/automated cleaning facilities in all the prisons in the State of Rajasthan."
Matter before the Court
The Court was hearing two separate writ petitions filed by a Jodhpur-based prisoners' rights lawyer, Kaluram Bhati, seeking adequate open-air prisons in Rajasthan.
The petitions also raised concern over the numbers of prisoners who drop out due to the dated Rajasthan Prisoners Open Air Camp Rules of 1972.
Court's Observation
To this, the Court said,
"Recently, we have come across a very disturbing report published on a website regarding existence of a caste based work assignment system in the prisons in Rajasthan."
It may be noted that The Wire, on December 10, published a detailed investigative piece on the caste practices prevalent inside prisons across different states in India.
The report is based on a research paper of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI).
The Court noted,
"As per the report, every person, who enters a prison in the State, is asked about his caste and once identified; menial jobs like cleaning toilets, sweeping the prisons etc. are assigned to the persons from lowest echelons in the society irrespective of the nature of the offence committed."
The said report also refers to the fact that the Prison Manuals of various states are still plagued by the archaic and derogatory caste system, which the Constitution of India pledged to eradicate.
"We are of the firm view that no under trial prisoner can be assigned such duties in a prison", said the Court.
Both the matters have been listed for further hearing on 04th January 2021.
Case title - Manoj Yadav v. State [D.B. Criminal Writ Petition No. 466/2019] connected with Inderjeet Singh v. State Of Rajasthan [D.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 17019/2018]
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