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Editor: Nagaraja.M.R.. Vol.11..Issue.06........07/02/2015

JUDGEs or Brokers of Justice ?

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/judges-or-brokers-of-justice ,

JUDGEs POLICE Worst Violators of Human Rights ,

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/judges-police-worst-violators-of-human-rights-1 ,

Editorial : PIL Appeal To Honorable Supreme court of India For Writ of Mandamus - No JAIL for Criminal Judges & Criminal Police ?

We salute our freedom fighters , military personnel & martyrs for all the sacrifices made by them. Let us build a strong , Secular , Democratic India by getting rid off few corrupt elements , anti nationals , traitors among public servants , among judiciary & among police who are greater threat to India’s unity & integrity than Pakistani terrorists or chinese military.

Information input forms part of process of one’s expression. One’s expression in any forms – written , oral , etc becomes information input to the opposite person , in turn he expresses his reply. Information & Expression are inseparable parts & form lifeline of a democracy. That is the reason , Right to Expression is the basic fundamental right as well as human right of every Indian citizen. When a person’s right to expression is violated , his other rights to equality , justice , etc also are violated. Suppression of Information amounts to curbing of Expression.

In a democracy , people have a right to know how the public servants are functioning. However till date public servants are hiding behind the veil of Officials Secrets Act (which is of british vintage created by british to suppress native indians). By this cover-up public servants are hiding their own corruption , crimes , mismanagement , failures , etc. even RTI Act is not being followed intoto by public servants. However the recent delhi high court ruling affirming that CJI is under RTI purview & bound to answer RTI request , is noteworthy.

Our previous RTI request to CJI , union home secretary of GOI, President of India , DG & IGP of GOK and others were not honored. The information I sought were answers to the following questions mentioned in the below mentioned websites . the questions concerned the past , present continuing injustices meted out to millions of Indian citizens , due to wrong / illegal work practices of Indian judges , police & public servants . The information we sought would expose the traitors , anti-nationals , criminals in public service. The information we are seeking are no defense secrets , no national secrets. The truthful information exposes the anti-nationals , traitors in the public service & strengthens our national security , national unity & integrity.

Hereby , i do request the honourable supreme court of india , for a Supreme Court monitored CBI Enquiry into this whole issue as karnataka police are helpless , they don't have legal powers to prosecute high & mighty , constitutional functionaries. They have not even enquired the guilty VVIPs even once however Under pressure from higher-ups they repeatedly called me the complainant to police station took statements from me all for closing the files.

Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants in the following cases to perform their duties & to answer the questions. JAI HIND. VANDE MATARAM.

Your’s sincerely ,

Nagaraja.M.R.

To ,
Shri . Justice H L Dattu ,
Honourable Chief Justice of India,
No.5, Krishna Menon Marg,
New Delhi 110 011.

APPLICATION FOR INFORMATION AS PER RTI ACT 2005
( SEE RULE 22 OF RTI ACT 2005 )

FULL NAME OF THE APPLICANT : NAGARAJA.M.R.

ADDRESS OF THE APPLICANT : NAGARAJA.M.R.,

EDITOR , SOS E-VOICE JUSTICE & SOS E-CLARION OF DALIT ,

# LIG-2 / 761, OPP WATER WORKS OFFICE,

HUDCO FIRST STAGE, LAXMIKANTANAGAR,

HEBBAL, MYSORE , KARNATAKA PIN – 570017.

Eventhough the information is readily available with SCI , information was denied citing unavailability. If at all information is not truly available , why didn’t the CPIO TRANSFER rti application to concerned departments of SCI , Ministry of Law , Justice , Respective High Courts , etc.

Does not court administarative officer posess SERVICE REECORDS of each employee including judges. If not on what basis they give promotions , transfers , salary , etc to judges ? The person who posess SR can give infor mation about guilty judges. Why CPIO not asking that person to share infor mation ?

If a commonman is alleged of a petty crime he is immediately arrested , put behind bars. Police spend thousands of rupees for investigation to prosecute that petty criminal. Judges spend hours to hear that case & prepare judgements running into tens of pages sometimes even over & above thousand pages. Fine . When the very same police & judge themselves committ grave crimes detrimental to national security , integrity , etc , no arrests , no prosecution only cover-up , WHY ? Are Judges & Police above Law ?

The action of CPIO SCI amounts to cover up of judges & their crimes. Thereby , CPIO is also committing a crime. With respect to previous RTI Appeals also CPIO & RTI First Appellate Authority SCI have repeatedly committed crimes by covering up judges & their crimes. Billions of indians are barely sustaining on a single piece meal a day , we lower middle class people toiling hard to earn a few hundreds of rupees but still paying tax. Is it not shame to them / shame to JUDGEs that they draw pay & perks amounting to lakhs of rupees from our money , from taxes paid by us still not do their constitutional duties properly.

GIVE WHAT ACTION HAS BEEN TAKEN AGAINST THE GUILTY JUDGES MENTIONED IN THE BELOW MENTIONED WEB SITES & FOLLOWING ARTICLES.

We salute honest few in public service , Judiciary , police , parliament & state legislative assemblies. our whole hearted respects to them. HEREBY , I DO HUMBLY REQUEST YOU TO GIVE ME WRITTEN STATEMENTS / ANSWERS TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS – WHICH IN ITSELF ( ie answers ) ARE THE INFORMATION SOUGHT BY ME. HERE WITH I AM SEEKING NOT THE OPINIONS ABOUT SOME HYPOTHETICAL ISSUES , BUT YOUR OFFICIAL STAND , LEGAL STAND ON ISSUES WHICH ARE OF FREQUENT OCCURRENCE WHICH ARE VIOLATING PEOPLE’S FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS & HUMAN RIGHTS. WE DO HAVE HIGHEST RESPECTS FOR JUDICIARY & ALL PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS , THIS IS AN APPEAL FOR TRUTH , INFORMATION SO THAT TO APPREHEND CORRUPT FEW IN PUBLIC SERVICE, WHO ARE AIDING & ABETTING TERRORISM , UNDERWORLD & CRIMINALS. I HAVE SHOWN IN DETAIL WITH LIVE , ACTUAL CASES , EXAMPLES , HOW INDIAN LEGAL SYSTEM IS MANIPULATED BY CRIMINALS WITHIN JUDICIARY , POLICE , PROSECUTION , ETC. READ DETAILS AT :

https://sites.google.com/site/eclarionofdalit/wheeling-dealing-judges-police ,

Atrocities on Women by JUDGES

https://sites.google.com/site/eclarionofdalit/atrocities-by-judges

A – Z of Manipulation of Indian Legal System

http://www.scribd.com/doc/187575206/A-Z-of-Manipulation-of-India-Legal-System ,

http://www.scribd.com/doc/173854541/Chief-Justice-of-India-A-Criminal ,

Justice Sathasivam - Are you DEAF DUMB & BLIND

https://sites.google.com/site/eclarionofdalit/justice-sathasivam---are-you-deaf-dumb-blind ,

Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Cover-up

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/rajiv-gandhi-assassination-cover-up ,

SHAME SHAME MPs & MLAs

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/shame-shame-mps-mlas ,

JUDGEs or Brokers of Justice

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/judges-or-brokers-of-justice ,

RTI & Land Golmaal

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/rti-land-golmaal-in-karnataka ,

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/land-grabbers-in-m-u-d-a ,

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/judges-cover-up-land-scams ,

Hereby , we do request CPIO O/O Honourable Chief Justice of India , Supreme Court of India , New Delhi to answer the following questions in public interest , for safeguarding national security , National unity & integrity & to legally apprehend anti-nationals , criminals within the judiciary & police.

1 . How many judges are booked for graft , sexual crimes , crimes against women , irregularities , amassing disproportionate wealth , failure of duty , getting illegal allotment of sites & other crimes since independence till date , yearwise ?

2. what action taken casewise ?

3. are the action taken similar to commoners , common people committing same type of crimes ?

4. did all the cases handled by tainted judges subjected to review , retrial by other honest judges ?

5. how many advocates were prosecuted by court for influencing witnesses / evidences , for tutored / concocted evidences , etc since independence till date , yearwise ? what action ? if not why ?

6. how many police officials / law enforcing officials were prosecuted by court for influencing , intimidating witnesses through threats , 3^rddegree torture , for concocted evidences , etc since independence till date , yearwise ? what action ? if not why ?

7. how many police / law enforcement officials were prosecuted for lock-up deaths , fake encounters , illegal detention , 3^rd degree torture , etc since independence till date , yearwise ? what action ? if not why ?

8. in how many cases police / law enforcement officials were made to pay compensation to innocent victims who were wrongly charged , detained & tortured , murdered by police , since independence till date , yearwise ? what action ? if not why ?

9. in some cases , on appeal judgements of higher court turns down the judgement of lower court. In how many such cases , lower court judge is made to pay compensation to victims of their wrong judgement , since independence till date yearwise ? what action ? if not why ?

10. how many judges have defaulted in filing their annual financial returns giving out their wealth , income details , yearwise since independence till date ? what action ? if not why ?

11. how you are verifying the annual financial returns of judges ?

12. since independence , how many convicts have been sentenced to “death by hanging” , yearwise ?

13. how many death sentances were carried out & how many are pending ?

14. how many police officials were made to pay compensation & prosecuted for defamation , when innocents falsely charged by police were acquitted , dropped from charges by courts ? if not why ?

15. how many lower court judges were made to pay compensation & prosecuted for defamation , when innocents wrongly convicted by lower court , but on appeal higher courts acquitting , dropping them of charges ? if not why ?

16. are judges getting paid from public exchequer , for their expenses on liquor / alcohol , body massages , etc in their TA DA bill while on tour , official visits , official parties hosted by judges ?

17. how many appeals for justice concerning public welfare , violation of human & fundamental rights , threat to lives / livelihood , etc were made to supreme court of india , by nagaraja mysore raghupathi alias nagaraja M R alias myself since 1990 till date ? appeals were made through ordinary post , registered post , e-mail & by web through DARPG , DPG. What ACTION taken by supreme court of india with respect to each appeal ?

18. due to negligence / connivance of supreme court judges injustices were meted out to public & public are still suffering injustices. Crimes which could have been prevented by SC happened eventhough brought to early notice of supreme court. What action against erring SC Judges ? if not why ?

19. I have repeatedly offered my services to supreme court of india , to apprehend criminals within judiciary , police & public service. What action taken by supreme court of india ? if not why ?

20. in my legal struggle for justice , due to negligence / connivance of SCI judges I have suffered murder attempts on my life , job losses , my newspaper closed , not getting press accreditation to my web news papers , threats by rowdies , police , etc. what action against erring chief justice of india ? if not why ?

21. I repeatedly appealed to supreme court of india to permit me to appear as amicus curie before supreme court of india & jain commission of enquiry regarding late PM Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. I was not permitted why ?

22. who are the judges covering-up Rajiv Gandhi assassination case ? what action taken ? if not why ?

23. Law is one & same for all , but law enforcement & law interpretation is not same for common people , Judges & Police ? why ?

YEAR TO WHICH ABOVE PERTAINS : MAJORITY OF DOCUMENTS PERTAINS TO YEAR 1990-2014 . SOME OF THE DOCUMENTS ARE DATED BACK TO 1947.

PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER DUTY BOUND TO GIVE INFORMATION :

CPIO , o/o Chief Justice of India , SUPREME COURT OF INDIA , NEW DELHI.

FEES PAID : IPO 16G 733462 for rupees TWENTY only

DATE : 28.01.2015 ……………..………………………NAGARAJA.M.R.

PLACE : MYSORE , INDIA….. ……………………….( APPLICANT)

To ,

Shri. L.K. Govil ,

GM (Coordination) & RTI Appellate Authority ,

Room No .27 , IR Hall , Eastern Court ,

Jan Path , New Delhi – 110001.

APPLICATION FOR INFORMATION AS PER RTI ACT 2005
( SEE RULE 22 OF RTI ACT 2005 )

FULL NAME OF THE APPLICANT : NAGARAJA.M.R.

ADDRESS OF THE APPLICANT : NAGARAJA.M.R.,

EDITOR , SOS E-VOICE JUSTICE & SOS E-CLARION OF DALIT ,

# LIG-2 / 761, OPP WATER WORKS OFFICE,

HUDCO FIRST STAGE, LAXMIKANTANAGAR,

HEBBAL, MYSORE , KARNATAKA PIN – 570017.

"Power will go to the hands of rascals, , rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight among themselves for power and will be lost in political squabbles . A day would come when even air & water will be taxed." Sir Winston made this statement in the House of Commons just before the independence of India & Pakistan. Sadly , the forewarning of Late Winston Churchill has been proved right by some of our criminal , corrupt people’s representatives , police , public servants & Judges. Some of the below mentioned DOT officials fall among the category of churchill’s men – Rogues , Rascals & Freebooters. To my previous RTI requests & appeals they tried covering – up crores worth SCAM by transferring application from one to the other at the end by denying information to me, Does not the DOT possess information with respect to tenders given by it to suppliers. Is it not the duty of DOT QUALITY Circle to monitor the supplies from suppliers ? Then who has got it ? why don’t you transfer the RTI application to that authority or ask for information from them ?

We salute honest few in public service , our whole hearted respects to them. HEREBY , I DO HUMBLY REQUEST YOU TO GIVE ME WRITTEN STATEMENTS / ANSWERS TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS – WHICH IN ITSELF ( ie answers ) ARE THE INFORMATION SOUGHT BY ME. HERE WITH I AM SEEKING NOT THE OPINIONS ABOUT SOME HYPOTHETICAL ISSUES , BUT YOUR OFFICIAL STAND , LEGAL STAND ON ISSUES WHICH ARE OF FREQUENT OCCURRENCE WHICH ARE VIOLATING PEOPLE’S FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS & HUMAN RIGHTS. WE DO HAVE HIGHEST RESPECTS FOR JUDICIARY & ALL PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS , THIS IS AN APPEAL FOR TRUTH , INFORMATION SO THAT TO APPREHEND CORRUPT FEW IN PUBLIC SERVICE, WHO ARE AIDING & ABETTING TERRORISM , UNDERWORLD & CRIMINALS.

M/s Karnataka Telecables Ltd , Mysore renamed as M/s RPG Telecom Ltd again renamed as M/s RPG Cables Ltd once again renamed as M/s KEC International , Mysore used to manufacture PIJF & OFC telecables and supplied it to department of telecommunications , government of india , Indian Railways and GAIL , PGCIL of Ministry of Petroleum . DOT used to pay hundreds of crores of rupees from public exchequer to buy these cables . There is also one more company by name M/s Concepta Cables Ltd , Mysore belonging to the same industrial group supplying PIJF & OFC telecables to DOT. As a public , as a citizen of india and as a tax payer I want to know whether those crores of rupees from public exchequer are well spent.

1. How many times the above said companies were blacklisted by DOT , Supreme Court of India and other quasi judicial bodies , casewise ?

2. What action taken by DOT & judicial bodies against the above companies , casewise ?

3. How many cable kms of cable supplied by above companies , were rejected by DOT from the field yearwise , since 1986 ?

4. Did the above companies replace all the cables rejected by DOT & make good all the losses , yearwise ?

5. If not , why ?

6. What action taken by DOT , casewise ?

7. How many cable kms of cables supplied by above companies were accepted on deviation by DOT yearwise ? on what basis ?

8. Has the DOT authorised usage of recycled materials in the manufacture of cables ?

9. If yes , on what basis ?

10. Did DOT authorize outsourcing of cable manufacturing process by above companies to third parties , casewise ?

11. How many cable kms of telecom cables supplied by above companies have failed during usage within the warranty period , yearwise ?

12. Did the above companies honour warranty contract in all such cases ?

13. If not why , casewise ?

14. What action by DOT , casewise ?

15. Who maintains records of DOT / BSNL tenders given out to Suppliers specifically with respect to tenders given to M/s Karnataka Telecables Ltd , M/s RPG Telecom Ltd , M/s RPG Cables Ltd , M/s Concepta Cables Ltd & M/s KEC International Ltd ?

16. How may rejections / adverse reports , deviations found in the supplies made by above companies by DOT / BSNL Quality Circle ?

17. What action taken against BSNL / DOT officials who are trying to cover-up the scam inspite of my repeated appeals & RTI requests ?

YEAR TO WHICH ABOVE PERTAINS : MAJORITY OF DOCUMENTS PERTAINS TO YEAR 1994-2014 . SOME OF THE DOCUMENTS ARE DATED BACK TO 1986.

PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER DUTY BOUND TO GIVE INFORMATION :

CPIO , BSNL HQ , New Delhi.

FEES PAID : IPO 16G 733463 for rupees TWENTY only

DATE : 28.01.2015 ……………..………………………NAGARAJA.M.R.

PLACE : MYSORE , INDIA….. ……………………….( APPLICANT)

To,

Shri. Dr.Sindhe Bhimsen Rao . H ,

Additional Secretary to Chief Minister ,

Room No 236 , 2^nd Floor ,

Vidhana Soudha , Bangalore – 560001.

APPLICATION FOR INFORMATION AS PER RTI ACT 2005
( SEE RULE 22 OF RTI ACT 2005 )

FULL NAME OF THE APPLICANT : NAGARAJA.M.R.

ADDRESS OF THE APPLICANT : NAGARAJA.M.R.,

EDITOR , SOS E-VOICE JUSTICE & SOS E-CLARION OF DALIT ,

# LIG-2 / 761, OPP WATER WORKS OFFICE,

HUDCO FIRST STAGE, LAXMIKANTANAGAR,

HEBBAL, MYSORE , KARNATAKA PIN – 570017.

"Power will go to the hands of rascals, , rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight among themselves for power and will be lost in political squabbles . A day would come when even air & water will be taxed." Sir Winston made this statement in the House of Commons just before the independence of India & Pakistan. Sadly , the forewarning of Late Winston Churchill has been proved right by some of our criminal , corrupt people’s representatives , police , public servants & Judges. Some of the below mentioned officials fall among the category of churchill’s men – Rogues , Rascals & Freebooters. To my previous RTI requests & appeals they tried covering – up crores worth SCAM by transferring application from one to the other at the end by denying information to me, Does not the Revenue department possess information ?

https://sites.google.com/site/eclarionofdalit/wheeling-dealing-judges-police ,

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/judges-cover-up-land-scams ,

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/land-grabbers-in-m-u-d-a ,

Main A :

1. The land encroachments & illegal buildings and it’s continued existence since years is not possible without tacit , covert support of jurisdictional revenue officials. What disciplinary action has been taken against concerned officials with respect to each case of land encroachment & illegal buildings , case wise ?

2. If not , why ?

3. Is not “land AKRAMA SAKRAMA SCHEME” itself illegal ?

4. Is not the move of government of Karnataka to legalise land encroachments & illegal buildings , in itself illegal ?

5. Till date in some cases of land encroachers are evicted & some buildings violating building byelaws demolished , you could have spared them to enjoy the benefit of land akrama sakrama scheme. Why you didn’t spare them ?

6. Is this scheme applicable for only chosen few ?

7. Does this scheme also benefit rich people above BPL ?

8. Does this scheme also benefit big land developers , land developing companies ?

9. To my previous RTI appeals to MUDA , BDA only partial information was given , conveniently hiding the truth. Is it not violation of RTI act ?

10. Does not hiding information about land crimes , in itself also a crime ?

11. I have shown in detail some land crimes in Karnataka. What action by government of Karnataka , casewise ?

12. https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/judges-cover-up-land-scams ,

13. https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/land-grabbers-in-m-u-d-a ,

14. Does not hiding a land crime , embolden land grabber to commit more land crimes ?

15. What action taken against BDA , MUDA & Revenue department officials who are covering crores worth land scams inspite of my repeated appeals & RTI Requests ?

Main B : RTI QUESTIONS Mysore DC , COMMISSIONER OF MUDA ( MYSORE URBAN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY ) & COMMISSIONER OF MCC ( MYSORE CITY CORPORATION ) ARE AFRAID TO ANSWER

1. how many times since 1987 , MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT has revised / modified the mysore city's comprehensive city development plan ?

2. how many cases of CDP violations were registered by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT since 1987 till date ?

3. how many cases of CDP violations were legalized in the CDP revision / modification by the authorities ?

4. when an application for alienation of land is made to you , say from civic amenity site to commercial , what norms are followed by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT ?

5. how do you provide alternate civic amenity site in the locality , if the area is already full ? do you deprive people of civic amenities ?

6. during such alenation , is the MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT collecting market rate difference between civic amenity site & commercial site ? if not why ?

7. in mysore city , many building complexes , buildings have been built fully violating building bye-laws – no set off , no parking space , no emergency fire exit , no earthquake tolerant . what action by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT ?

8. how many cases of building bye-laws violations has been registered by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT since 1987 ? what is the action status report yearwise ?

9. how much of MUDA's / MCC's / GOVERNMENT's lands , sites , buildings & houses have been illegally occupied by criminal tresspassers since 1987 ?

10. has the MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT registered criminal cases against each such illegal occupation ? if not why ? provide status report yearwise ?

11. in how many cases of such illegal occupation MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT has legalized , regularized such illegal occupation just through MUDA's / MCC's resolution instead of of reallotting the same through public notification to the next senior most in the waiting list , after giving notice of allotment cancellation to original allottee ? if not done so why ?

12. has the MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT followed all legal norms in reallotment of lands , sites , houses , etc to the illegal occupiers ? what is the procedure followed ?

13. in mysore city , numerous housing societies & real estate Developers have mushroomed , Land allotments of how many housing societies , real estate firms among them are legally authorized by MUDA , MCC , GOVERNMENT & how many not ? since 1987 till date ?

14. has the MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT filed criminal complaints against such illegal housing societies & illegal real estate firms ? if not why ?

15. what action MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT has initiated against real estate firms & housing societies who have violated MUDA norms , layout plans , etc ? if not why ?

16. the government has framed building bye-laws like width of road , space for civic amenities , parking space , emergency fire exit , etc keeping high in the mind safety of people first. MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT is in the practice of levying a pittance as penalty on the building byelaw violators , layout Development plan violators & legalizing those
violations. Safety of public & amenities of public are totally neglected by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT . When public people die , suffer injuries / accidents – say during a fire tragedy in a complex due to lack of fire exit , when people park vehicles on pavement in front of a business complex as the complex doesn't have a parking space of it's own , the pedestrians going that way are forced to come down on road resulting in accidents , injuries & deaths . is not the MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT responsible for those accidents , injuries & deaths ?

17. what is the criteria adopted by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT for out of Turn allotment of Lands , sites , houses to renowned sports persons , judges , journalists , politicians , artists , etc ?

18. how many judges , artists , politicians , journalists , sports persons , etc have benefited from these out of turn allotments by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT ? specific figures yearwise since 1987 ?

19. what action has been taken against developers , housing societies , who have violated MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT norms ?

20. when poor scheduled caste , scheduled tribe people , minority people illegally live On MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT sites building temporary huts , MUDA / AUTHORITIES with the help of police razes down those huts & evicts the poor by brute force. Whereas , when cronies of political bigwigs illegally occupy MUDA , MCC / GOVERNMENT lands worth crores of rupees & build big complexes earning thousands of rupees monthly rent , MUDA or authorities not even files police complaint against them instead regularizes the illegal occupation by levying a pittance as fine. Why this double standard by MUDA / MCC GOVERNMENT ?

21. HOW MANY CASES OF ILLEGAL OCCUPATIONS are regularized by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT since 1987 till date ? yearwise figures ?

22. how much of MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT lands , sites , houses are under illegal occupation ? status report yearwise since 1987 ?

23. how much of those has been recovered ? has the MUDA ,AUTHORITIES recovered the rents earned by illegal occupation ?

24. have you filed police complaints against those criminals – tresspassers ? if not why ?

25. is the MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT giving wide publicity & sufficient time to bidders about it's auction schedules ?

26. is the MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT giving market value to land loosers ?

27. is the MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT exactly using the acquired lands , for the same purpose mentioned in the project plan ?

28. is the MUDA / AUTHORITIES acquiring lands at lower rates from farmers & selling it at a premium , by way making profits just like a real estate agency ?

29. in villages , there are cattle grazing grounds meant for the usage of whole villagers, forest for the usage of whole village , lands belonging to village temples. Some villagers have donated their personal lands to village temples , cattle grazing for the benefit of whole villagers. All the villagers are stake holders , owners of such lands. When MUDA / MCC /
GOVERNMENT acquires such lands to whom does it pay compensation ? what about welfare objectives of those lands ?

30. till date , how many lakes , ponds , how many feeder canals have been closed , filled with mud , developed , sold as sites , etc by MUDA MCC or other land developers ?

31. has the MUDA , MCC taken alternate steps to create new lakes , ponds ? how many are created till date ?

32. in & around mysore city , high tension electric lines are there in busy residential areas . as per Indian electricity act , no permanent structures should be under the HT lines. However there are buildings under it. In some places , HT lines runs in the middle of the road. The authorities Have developed those areas beneath HT lines as parks , rented out
advertisement spaces & built permanent fencing of those areas spending lakhs of taxpayer's money. This fencing obstructs the movement of service personnel of electricity board , to service HT line. Are all these structures under
& surrounding HT lines legal ?

33. till date how many burial grounds are acquired & sold as sites by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT or other developers ? specific figures yearwise since 1987 castewise , religionwise ?

34. in & around mysore city , in how many areas developed by MUDA & private developers , the sewage water generated in those areas is directly let into lake , ponds ?

35. how many tributaries , lakes , ponds are killed in this fashion by MUDA , MCC & other developers , housing societies ?

36. how many business complexes , flats , residential layouts developed by private real estate developers , housing societies are dumping the sewage , / waste generated in their buildings , into unauthorized dumping grounds , lakes , etc . thus disturbing the environment & creating public health hazard ? how the MUDA / MCC is monitoring sewage / waste disposal ? status report yearwise since 1987 till date .

37. how many unauthorized housing layouts are there in & around mysore city ? what action by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT against them ? action taken report yearwise since 1987 till date .

38. around mysore city , vast areas of village farm lands , agricultural lands are acquired by private real estate developers for non agricultural purposes by a single firm or single owner. Are these actions legal ? some of these real estate agents have sold those lands to private industries , multinational companies for crores of rupees. Has the MUDA / MCC /
GOVERNMENT given alienation of land ie conversion from agricultural to industrial usage. Has KIADB given consent to it ?

39. can a single individual / firm can purchase such vast tracts of agricultural lands , is it legal ? is it within the KIADB's
comprehensive industrial area development plan ?

40. has the MUDA / MCC , KIADB given wide publicity , public notice calling for objections before alienation of such lands ?

41. are all those alienations , strictly in conformance to MUDA's / MCC's CDP & KIADB's industrial area development plan ? violations how many ?

42. is the MUDA & KIADB revising / modifying CDP & INDUSTRIAL AREA DEVELOPMENT PLAN , to suit those real estate developers & Private companies ? on what legal grounds ?

43.what action has been taken based on mysore district magistrate mr.T.M.Vijaya Bhaskar's report on land grabbings in mysore ?

44.in mysore city , hebbal-hootagalli industrial area , a lake has been destroyed while building kaynes hotel , hinkal lake is shrinking , lake in front of BEML Quarters has been alloted to M/S THRILLER CLOTHING CO, are all these actions legal & in conformance to MUDA's CDP ? if not why ? what action ?

45. while auctioning off the lands of sick industrial unit M/S IDEAL JAWA LTD , was there any pre-qualification to bidders that after purchase of lands only it must be used for industrial use or only industries can participate in the bidding process ?

46.why not it has been clearly mentioned in the tender document that , said land is open for alienation ?

47. about this issue , our publication has even raised it's objections , in it's newspaper . no action , why ? as a result , the government , banks , employees were cheated off their dues & the private firm made huge profits. is this auction & alienation legal ?

48.numerous NGO's , trusts promoted by religious bodies , mutts are allotted prime lands at preferrential rates , for the reason that they will use it for public / social welfare. however many of the trusts are using the whole or part of the land for commercial purposes other than the stated public / social welfare purpose. what action has been taken by MUDA , MCC or government in such cases ?

49.how many trusts have violated government norms in this way since 1987 till date? what action taken by MUDA , MCC & government action taken report yearwise since 1987 till date ?

50.how many such illegalities / violations by trusts are regularized by MUDA , MCC or authorities , on what legal grounds ? ATR since 1987 till date ?

51.before regularizing such violations have you sought public objections & given media publicity ? if not why ?

52.how you are monitoring the net wealth growth of some MUDA / MCC / REVENUE officials & their family members , who have land acquisition / denotifying , land usage conversion authorities ?

53.how many trusts , NGOs are allotted prime residential / commercial lands by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT on lease basis , in turn the said trusts , NGOs have sulet it either partly or wholly to others ?

54.how many such lease allotments are sold by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT before the expiry of lease period , without public auction ?

55. what are the norms followed by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT for the sale of leased lands to the lessee before the expiry of lease period ?

Main C : RTI – QUESTIONS COMMISSIONER OF BANGALORE DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY ( BDA ) , COMMISSIONER , BRIHATH BANGALORE MAHANAGARA PALIKE ( BBMP ) & CHAIRMAN , KARNATAKA INDUSTRIAL AREA DEVELOPMENT BOARD ( KIADB) ARE AFRAID TO ANSWER

1. how many times since 1987 , BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT has revised / modified the Bangalore city's comprehensive city development plan ?

2. how many cases of CDP violations were registered by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT since 1987 till date ?

3. how many cases of CDP violations were legalized in the CDP revision / modification by the authorities ?

4. when an application for alienation of land is made to you , say from civic amenity site to commercial , what norms are followed by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT?

5. how do you provide alternate civic amenity site in the locality , if the area is already full ? do you deprive people of civic amenities ?

6. during such alenation , is the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT collecting market rate difference between civic amenity site & commercial site ? if not why ?

7. in bangalore city , many building complexes , buildings have been built fully violating building bye-laws – no set off , no parking space , no emergency fire exit , no earthquake tolerant . what action by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT?

8. how many cases of building bye-laws violations has been registered by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT since 1987 ? what is the action status report yearwise ?

9. how much of BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT lands , sites , buildings & houses have been illegally occupied by criminal tresspassers since 1987 ?

10. has the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT registered criminal cases against each such illegal occupation ? if not why ? provide status report yearwise ?

11. in how many cases of such illegal occupation BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT has legalized , regularized such illegal occupation just through BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT ` s resolution instead of of re-allotting the same through public notification to the next senior most in the waiting list , after giving notice of allotment cancellation to original allottee ? if not done so why ?

12. has the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT followed all legal norms in reallotment of lands , sites , houses , etc to the illegal occupiers ? what is the procedure followed ?

13. in bangalore city , numerous housing societies & real estate Developers have mushroomed , Land allotments of how many housing societies , real estate firms among them are legally authorized by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT & how many not ? since 1987 till date ?

14. has the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT filed criminal complaints against such illegal housing societies & illegal real estate firms ? if not why ?

15. what action BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT has initiated against real estate firms & housing societies who have violated BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT norms , layout plans , etc ? if not why ?

16. the government has framed building bye-laws like width of road , space for civic amenities , parking space , emergency fire exit , etc keeping high in the mind safety of people first. BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT is in the practice of levying a pittance as penalty on the building byelaw violators , layout Development plan violators & legalizing those violations. Safety of public & amenities of public are totally neglected by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT. When public people die , suffer injuries / accidents – say during a fire tragedy in a complex due to lack of fire exit , when people park vehicles on pavement in front of a business complex as the complex doesn't have a parking space of it's own , the pedestrians going that way are forced to come down on road resulting in accidents , injuries & deaths . is not the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT responsible for those accidents , injuries & deaths ?

17. what is the criteria adopted by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT for out of Turn allotment of Lands , sites , houses to renowned sports persons , judges , journalists , politicians , artists , etc ?

18. how many judges , artists , politicians , journalists , sports persons , etc have benefited from these out of turn allotments by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT? specific figures yearwise since 1987 ?

19. what action has been taken against developers , housing societies , who have violated BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT norms ?

20. when poor scheduled caste , scheduled tribe people , minority people illegally live On BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT sites building temporary huts , BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT with the help of police razes down those huts & evicts the poor by brute force. Whereas , when cronies of political bigwigs illegally occupy BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT lands worth crores of rupees & build big complexes earning thousands of rupees monthly rent , BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT or authorities not even files police complaint against them instead regularizes the illegal occupation by levying a pittance as fine. Why this double standard by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT?

21. HOW MANY CASES OF ILLEGAL OCCUPATIONS are regularized by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT since 1987 till date ? yearwise figures ?

22. how much of BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT lands , sites , houses are under illegal occupation ? status report yearwise since 1987 ?

23. how much of those has been recovered ? has the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT arecovered the rents earned by illegal occupation ?

24. have you filed police complaints against those criminals – tresspassers ? if not why ?

25. is the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT giving wide publicity & sufficient time to bidders about it's auction schedules ?

26. is the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT giving market value to land loosers ?

27. is the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT exactly using the acquired lands , for the same purpose mentioned in the project plan ?

28. is the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT acquiring lands at lower rates from farmers & selling it at a premium , by way making profits just like a real estate agency ?

29. in villages , there are cattle grazing grounds meant for the usage of whole villagers, forest for the usage of whole village , lands belonging to village temples. Some villagers have donated their personal lands to village temples , cattle grazing for the benefit of whole villagers. All the villagers are stake holders , owners of such lands. When BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT acquires such lands to whom does it pay compensation ? what about welfare objectives of those lands ?

30. till date , how many lakes , ponds , how many feeder canals have been closed , filled with mud , developed , sold as sites , etc by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT or other land developers ?

31. has the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT taken alternate steps to create new lakes , ponds ? how many are created till date ?

32. in & around bangalore city , high tension electric lines are there in busy residential areas . as per Indian electricity act , no permanent structures should be under the HT lines. However there are buildings under it. In some places , HT lines runs in the middle of the road. The authorities Have developed those areas beneath HT lines as parks , rented out advertisement spaces & built permanent fencing of those areas spending lakhs of taxpayer's money. This fencing obstructs the movement of service personnel of electricity board , to service HT line. Are all these structures under & surrounding HT lines legal ?

33. till date how many burial grounds are acquired & sold as sites by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT or other developers ? specific figures yearwise since 1987 castewise , religionwise ?

34. in & around bangalore city , in how many areas developed by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT & private developers , the sewage water generated in those areas is directly let into lake , ponds ?

35. how many tributaries , lakes , ponds are killed in this fashion by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT & other developers , housing societies ?

36. how many business complexes , flats , residential layouts developed by private real estate developers , housing societies are dumping the sewage , / waste generated in their buildings , into unauthorized dumping grounds , lakes , etc . thus disturbing the environment & creating public health hazard ? how the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT is monitoring sewage / waste disposal ? status report yearwise since 1987 till date .

37. how many unauthorized housing layouts are there in & around bangalore city ? what action by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT against them ? action taken report yearwise since 1987 till date .

38. around bangalore city , vast areas of village farm lands , agricultural lands are acquired by private real estate developers for non agricultural purposes by a single firm or single owner. Are these actions legal ? some of these real estate agents have sold those lands to private industries , multinational companies for crores of rupees. Has the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT given alienation of land ie conversion from agricultural to industrial usage. Has KIADB given consent to it ?

39. can a single individual / firm can purchase such vast tracts of agricultural lands , is it legal ? is it within the KIADB's comprehensive industrial area development plan ?

40. has the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT given wide publicity , public notice calling for objections before alienation of such lands ?

41. are all those alienations , strictly in conformance to BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT's industrial area development plan ? violations how many ?

42. is the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT revising / modifying CDP & INDUSTRIAL AREA DEVELOPMENT PLAN , to suit those real estate developers & Private companies ? on what legal grounds ?

43.what action has been taken based on mysore district magistrate mr.T.M.Vijaya Bhaskar's report on land grabbings in mysore ?

44.in mysore city , hebbal-hootagalli industrial area , a lake has been destroyed while building kaynes hotel , hinkal lake is shrinking , lake in front of BEML Quarters has been alloted to M/S THRILLER CLOTHING CO, are all these actions legal & in conformance to MUDA's CDP ? if not why ? what action ?

45. while auctioning off the lands of sick industrial unit M/S IDEAL JAWA LTD , was there any pre-qualification to bidders that after purchase of lands only it must be used for industrial use or only industries can participate in the bidding process ?

46.why not it has been clearly mentioned in the tender document that , said land is open for alienation ?

47. about this issue , our publication has even raised it's objections , in it's newspaper . no action , why ? as a result , the government , banks , employees were cheated off their dues & the private firm made huge profits. is this auction & alienation legal ?

48.numerous NGO's , trusts promoted by religious bodies , mutts are allotted prime lands at preferrential rates , for the reason that they will use it for public / social welfare. however many of the trusts are using the whole or part of the land for commercial purposes other than the stated public / social welfare purpose. what action has been taken by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT in such cases ?

49.how many trusts have violated government norms in this way since 1987 till date? what action taken by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT action taken report yearwise since 1987 till date ?

50.how many such illegalities / violations by trusts are regularized by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT, on what legal grounds ? ATR since 1987 till date ?

51.before regularizing such violations have you sought public objections & given media publicity ? if not why ?

52.how you are monitoring the net wealth growth of some BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT officials & their family members , who have land acquisition / denotifying , land usage conversion authorities ?

53.how many trusts , NGOs are allotted prime residential / commercial lands by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT on lease basis , in turn the said trusts , NGOs have sulet it either partly or wholly to others ?

54.how many such lease allotments are sold by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT before the expiry of lease period , without public auction ?

55. what are the norms followed by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT for the sale of leased lands to the lessee before the expiry of lease period ?

56. what is the status of house allotted to sri.chandrashekariah vide BDA allotment letter no: 310/267/BDA/ADM/KMRSL(H)/78-79 dt 11/08/1978.

57. why BDA didn't file police complaint to evict encroachers?

58. why BDA didn't inform the descendents of original allottee about the cancellation of their allotment ?

59.what happened to the money deposited by original allottee?

60.is the action of BDA allotting the said house to an illegal encroacher just by the resolution of BDA committee legal ?

61. in case the BDA wished to re-allot the said house , first it must have informed the original allottee about cancellation of allotment allowing them sufficient time to reply with public notice in news papers , then they should have allotted the said house to the senior most in the waiting list. But BDA has just allotted the house to an illegal encroacher by the resolution of BDA committee. Is it legal ?

62. BDA officials gave half truths to my RTI request & stated that the said file concerning this issue cann't be found ie lost . is it legal ?

63. has the BDA filed police complaint regarding theft of file from the record room ? HONOURABLE COMMISSIONER OF BDA PLEASE REFER THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE.

https://sites.google.com/site/eclarionofdalit/wheeling-dealing-judges-police ,

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/judges-cover-up-land-scams ,

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/land-grabbers-in-m-u-d-a ,

YEAR TO WHICH ABOVE PERTAINS : MAJORITY OF DOCUMENTS PERTAINS TO YEAR 1994-2014 . SOME OF THE DOCUMENTS ARE DATED BACK TO 1947.

PUBLIC INFORMATION FFICER DUTY BOUND TO GIVE INFORMATION :

CPIO , MINISTRY OF REVENUE , GOVERNMENT OF KARNATAKA , VIDHANA SOUDHA , BANGALORE.

FEES PAID : IPO 16G 733464 for Rupees TWENTY only

DATE : 28.01.2015 ……………..………………………NAGARAJA.M.R.

PLACE : MYSORE , INDIA….. ……………………….( APPLICANT)

To ,
Shri . Justice H L Dattu ,
Honourable Chief Justice of India,
No.5, Krishna Menon Marg,
New Delhi 110 011.

APPLICATION FOR INFORMATION AS PER RTI ACT 2005
( SEE RULE 22 OF RTI ACT 2005 )

FULL NAME OF THE APPLICANT : NAGARAJA.M.R.

ADDRESS OF THE APPLICANT : NAGARAJA.M.R.,

EDITOR , SOS E-VOICE JUSTICE & SOS E-CLARION OF DALIT ,

# LIG-2 / 761, OPP WATER WORKS OFFICE,

HUDCO FIRST STAGE, LAXMIKANTANAGAR,

HEBBAL, MYSORE , KARNATAKA PIN – 570017.

GIVE WHAT ACTION HAS BEEN TAKEN AGAINST THE GUILTY JUDGES MENTIONED IN THE BELOW MENTIONED WEB SITES & FOLLOWING ARTICLES.

At the outset , we express our whole hearted respects to the honest few public servants in public service including judiciary. However, the corrupt in public service don’t deserve respect as individuals – as they are parasites in our legal system. Still we respect the chairs they occupy but not the corrupt individuals.

All the following articles / issues , whole articles published in the weblinks mentioned below forms part of this appeal. The term “JUDGE”mentioned throught includes all public servants discharging judicial functions right from taluk magistrates , quasi-judicial officers to Chief Justice of India.

Indian Legal / Judicial System is manipulated at various stages & is for sale. It is a SHAME. The persons who raise their voice seeking justice are silenced in many ways. The criminal nexus has already attempted to silence me in many ways . If anything untoward happens to me or to my family members , my dependents , Honourable Chief Justice of India together with jurisdictional police officer will be responsible for it.

Hereby, we do once again offer our conditional services to the honourable supreme court of India & other government authorities, in apprehending criminals including corrupt judges & police. Herewith , we once again appeal to the honourable supreme court of India , to consider this as a PIL Appeal in public interest.

The public servants & the government must be role models in law abiding acts , for others to emulate & follow. if a student makes a mistake it is excusable & can be corrected by the teacher. if the teacher himself makes a mistake , all his students will do the same mistake. if a thief steals , he can be caught , legally punished & reformed . if a police himself commits crime , many thieves go scot- free under his patronage. even if a police , public servant commits a crime , he can be legally prosecuted & justice can be sought by the aggrieved. just think , if a judge himself that too of apex court of the land itself commits crime - violations of RTI Act , constitutional rights & human rights of public and obstructs the public from performing their constitutional fundamental duties , what happens ? it gives a booster dose to the rich & mighty , those in power , criminals in public service to committ more crimes. that is exactly what is happenning in india. the educated public must raise to the occassion & peacefully , democratically must oppose this criminalisation of judiciary , public service. then alone , we can build a RAM RAJYA OF MAHATMA GANDHI'S DREAM.

Kindly go through the following articles & provide justice by giving complete truthful information to us , by publicly answering the following questionnaire in an unambiguous manner.

The constitution of India has prescribed certain FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES to each citizens of India. It is the duty of every citizen to protect & uphold the dignity , honour of our democratic institutions , to
protect our national integrity , to respect & protect the rights of our fellow citizens. No constitutional authority has the right to obstruct the discharge of these duties by citizens of India. No legal privileges of constitutional functionaries is superior over the FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES OF CITIZEN'S OF INDIA.

We need rights to perform our duties. Constitution of India has guaranteed those rights as FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS to all citizens of India & by birth itself everyone of us has secured HUMAN RIGHTS as individuals. To express ourselves , we need information , data feed back , to ascertain whether we are getting equal opportunity , whether we are getting equitable justice , etc , we need information . so ,
basically Right To Information is an inalienable part of our fundamental rights & human rights. What RTI Act has done is fixed time limit , responsibilities of public servants up to certain extent. However the citizen's fundamental right & human right to seek information extends far beyond the scope of RTI Act.

Hereby , we seek complete truthful information from supreme court of India , with respect to my RTI application appeal. HEREBY , WE ARE ONLY SEEKING ACCOUNTABILITY OF PUBLIC SERVANTS IN PUBLIC INTEREST & JUSTICE. Hereby , we request you to register this appeal as a PIL petition & to ascertain the stand of apex court on various matters raised in my RTI Application , in public interest & equitable justice.

https://sites.google.com/site/eclarionofdalit/wheeling-dealing-judges-police ,

Atrocities on Women by JUDGES

https://sites.google.com/site/eclarionofdalit/atrocities-by-judges

A – Z of Manipulation of Indian Legal System

http://www.scribd.com/doc/187575206/A-Z-of-Manipulation-of-India-Legal-System ,

http://www.scribd.com/doc/173854541/Chief-Justice-of-India-A-Criminal ,

Justice Sathasivam - Are you DEAF DUMB & BLIND

https://sites.google.com/site/eclarionofdalit/justice-sathasivam---are-you-deaf-dumb-blind ,

Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Cover-up

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/rajiv-gandhi-assassination-cover-up ,

SHAME SHAME MPs & MLAs

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/shame-shame-mps-mlas ,

Hereby , we do request PIO O/O Honourable Chief Justice of India , PIO , O/O H.E.Honorable President of India , PIO O/O Honorable Speaker of Lok Sabha , PIO O/O Dy Chairman of Rajya Sabha , PIOs of Karnataka Raj Bhawan , Karnataka CMO , Union Home Ministry GOI and DG & IG of Police of Government of Karnataka to answer the following questions in public interest , for safeguarding national security , National unity & integrity & to legally apprehend anti-nationals , criminals within the judiciary & police.

Main A :

1. What action you have taken against judges involved in atrocities against women , casewise ? if not, why ?

2. What action you have taken against judges involved in land scams , casewise ? if not , why ?

3. I have shown with actual cases how manipulation / fixing takes place , from complaint filing to judicial pronouncement stage. Are the judges & police , above law ?

4. I have numerous PILs , RTI appeals before supreme court of india. But they were not registered , not honoured , why ?

5. To my legal notice / show cause notice / damage payment notice to supreme court of india & chief justice of india , till date I have not received the reply , why ?

6. Is it not the duty of supreme court of india to protect the life & liberty of all Indian citizens ?

7. Is it not the failure of supreme court of india, when it failed to protect the life of a complainant ?

8. By negligence of their duties , are not supreme court judges aiding & abetting criminals , anti nationals & terrorists ?

9. While crores of Indians are barely surviving on a single piece meal a day , people dying due to starvation , supreme court judges are getting salary & perks amounting to lakhs of rupees from the same suffering public / public exchequer. Are not those duty shirking judges ashamed ?

10. What action you have taken against judges involved in hushing up late prime minister rajiv Gandhi assassination case ?

11. Why the supreme court of india didn’t allow me to appear before it in the said case of late PM Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case ?

12. Why the supreme court of india didn’t protect my life , my job oppurtunities , my newspaper from the wrath of criminal nexus ?

13. When even cable TV journalists , web journalists are getting PRESS / MEDIA accreditation , my web news papers , myself are not getting PRESS accreditation since 9 years , why ?

14. Are the supreme court judges hand in gloves with the criminal nexus ?

Main B :

You have not taken appropriate action to my previous RTI requests , Numerous appeals for justice & police complaints. You have not replied to show-cause notice also. Your inaction has helped the criminals in manipulating & destroying evidences.

Your inaction / delay in performing your duties not only amounts to denial of information , but amounts to violation of our fundamental & human rights , cover-up of crimes , aiding & abetting criminals . The criminal nexus tried to silence me in many ways. Is not these acts of your’s a crime in itself ?

If your acts of crime cover-ups , information / evidence cover-ups , aiding & abetting criminals , silencing a crusader is just & legal. The same type of acts of crimes performed by other citizens will also be legal ?

Main C :

At the outset , we express our whole hearted respects to all constitutional institutions & to the honest few in public service. Contempt of constitutional institutions , citizens of India is being made by the corrupt persons in constitutional positions themselves. This is an appeal to the honest few in public service , constitutional positions , to bring their corrupt colleagues to book.

1. does the action of MPs , MLAs taking money / receiving favors from vested interests , to formulate policy decisions , to raise questions in parliament / legislative bodies or to abstain from voting legal ?

2. why transparent , fair investigation is not done in such cases ?

3. just remember , the vulgar acts of Mr.Bora Babu Singh in state legislature & how some MLAs vulgarly behaved with Ms.Jayalalita in state legislature , years ago. Are these type of vulgar actions by MPs & MLAs legal ? does not these constitute contempt of the house by MPs & MLAs themselves ?

4. all the people’s representatives from panchayath member to president of India must read ABCD Of Democracy provide along with.since independence of India till date , MPs & MLAs are forcing projects on people against the wishes of people , formulating policies against the wishes of people. Are not such projects , government policies & Laws , undemocratic & illegal ?

5. is the election commission of India verifying the authenticity of affidavits submitted by electoral candidates ?

6. how many candidates have been caught so far for giving false affidavits ? are all the violators prosecuted?

7. are the MPs , MLAs submitting their wealth details on affidavits yearly to vigilance authorities ? defaulters , violators how many ?

8. what legal action taken against violators , defaulters , for giving false affidavits ?

9. who is checking the authenticity of those affidavits submitted by MPs , MLAs ?

10. the agricultural incomes of some MPs , MLAs , their kih & kin raises even during the time of severe drought , floods , fall in prices of agricultural products , their companies register increase in turnover / profits even during recession , the trusts / NGOs set up by them receive huge donations. Are all these income legal ?

Main D :

1. we do once again offer our conditional services to the government of india , all state governments & supreme court of india , in apprehending tax evaders , land grabbers , corrupt police , corrupt judges , corrupt public servants , labor law violators , etc. whom the the government officials , vigilance authorities have failed to apprehend. Why the authorities , courts , supreme court of India , are not ready to utilize our service ? are they afraid of being caught ?

2. the public servants , courts theselves are delaying giving information / records to us in many cases. So in the issues / cases raised by us , the clause of time bar doe not apply. Are these delaying tactics of public servants , courts legal ?

3. why no proper , timely action was not taken based on numerous police complaints made by us ?

4. why DG & IGP , Government of Karnataka , has not made any efforts to seek legal sanction for prosecution of VVIPs ( mentioned in our complaint ) , from union & state home ministries ?

5. the criminal nexus is trying to silence me in many ways , but the supreme court of India & national human rights commission has failed to undo the injustices , why ? is it because it is not a high profile case ? is it because it is not hi-fi , does not get image ratings , TRPs ?

6. the public servants are aiding underworld , naxalites & terrorists , by their delaying tactics & denial of information , records. What action has been taken against such anti-national elements in public service ?

7. how many complaints are made by Nagaraj .M.R. , Human Rights Activist , Mysore (editor of SOS e-clarion of dalit & SOS e-voice for justice) to Karnataka police , to national human rights commission to supreme court of India till date ? what action taken with respect to each complaint ?

8. the delay in taking action by public servants with respect to following cases has resulted in more crimes , destruction / manipulation of evidences , records and more injustices to commonman. Why the authorities did not take timely action against criminals in following cases ?

SOS Appeal to SUPREME COURT of INDIA
http://e-clarionofdalit.blogspot.com/2010/08/s-o-s-appeal-to-supreme-…
DEALS IN COURTS & POLICE STATIONS READ :
http://sites.google.com/site/eclarionofdalit/satyameva-jayate ,
http://e-clarionofdalit.blogspot.com/2011/01/satyameva-jayate.html ,

ACCUSED Chief Justice of India
http://sites.google.com/site/eclarionofdalit/accused-chief-justice-of…
,
http://e-clarionofdalit.blogspot.com/2011/02/accused-chief-justice-of…

HONOR OF INDIAN PALIAMENT FOR SALE

http://sites.google.com/site/eclarionofdalit/honor-of-indian-parliament-for-sale

Persecuted IROM SHARMILA of Puttaparthi AP – pushpa kolasani on hunger strike in anantapur district jail Andhra Pradesh

http://sites.google.com/site/eclarionofdalit/persecuted-irom-sharmila-of-puttaparthi-ap

9. how many judges are caught by authorities for doing improper , immoral & illegal acts , since independence till date ? what action taken in each case ?

10. what action taken against copy cat judges caught red handed while copying in public examination in Andhra Pradesh ?

11. have you reviewed all the previous judicial decisions taken by such judges of doubtful integrity & honesty ?

12. is it not the duty of government & supreme court of India , to protect the fundamental rights & human rights of all Indian citizens ?

13. why the government & supreme court of India has failed to protect the fundamental rights & human rights of me & those mentioned in my complaint ?

14. how many former CJIs , supreme court & high court judges have disproportionate wealth ?

15. Your denial of information to my previous RTI requests amounts to suppression of evidence , hiding crimes , what action against erring public servants ?

16. why my previous RTI requests or part there of was not transferred to appropriate authorities and information given to me in a consolidated form ?

Main E :

Q1. Why not death sentence to corrupt police who murder people in in lock-up / fake encounters ?

Q2. Why not death sentence to corrupt police who apply 3^rd degree torture on prisoners ?

Q3. Why not death sentence to corrupt police , who connive with criminals & backstabs our motherland , it’s national security ?

Q4. Don’t the police have suo-motto powers to take action in the interest of public welfare , law & order ?

Q5. Daily we see numerous reports of misdeeds by police , public servants , industrialists , etc in the media . Then why not police taking any action with respect to them ?

Q6. nowadays we see numerous reports of scams , scandals by constitutional functionaries , public servants in the media. Instead of wasting money , killing time by prolonging formation of parliamentary committees , judicial commissions , why not subject those accussed public servants to narco analysis , lie deector test , etc to ascertain truth & provide timely justice ?
Q7. If a commonman files a complaint , police / courts wants evidences , witnesses to take action against the rich & mighty crooks. Where as if a rich person just gives a complaint against a poor chap , he is arrested , tortured eventhough there are no evidences , witnesses. Why this double standard ?
Q8. If a poor chap tries to collect evidences as per his fundamental rights or as per RTI ACT , the public servants don’t give full , truthfull information. Still , police / courts don’t take action against those public servants hiding crimes. Why ?
Q9.why I was not permitted to appear as an “amicus curie” before jain commission of enquiry or supreme court of india probing late prime minister rajiv Gandhi assassination case ?
Q10. The criminal nexus tried to silence me , by closing my news paper , by snatching away my job oppurtunities in government service, by physically assaulting me , by threatening me of false fix-ups in cases & by attempts to murder me. But no action against culprits , why ?
Q11. Whereas , I was enquired number of times by police & intelligence personnel about this case , but the culprits were not enquired even once , why ?
Q12.who compensates the losses I have suffered due to these injustices ? are not police responsible for it ?
Q13. Is it not the duty of police to protect the lives , livelihood of witnesses & all parties involved , both during case & afterwards ?
Q14. How do you monitor & check corrupt police personnel & increase in their family’s wealth year after year ?
Q15. While getting appointed into government service from the rank of peon to IAS officer , police verification is mandatory. While appointing to sensitive defense establishments , research institutes in addition to police verification , central intelligence agencies cross-check candidate’s background. However is there no background checks of constitutional functionaries , MPs , MLAs , , who are privy to national secrets ? why ?
Q16. Recently , the opposition parties have made allegations during presidential allegations that close relative of one of the front running candidates have swindled public money by their bank , misused public money through one of their NGO. Is it true ?
Q17.has GOI funded any terrorist outfits in india or abroad ?
Q18.india preaches non-violence , panchasheel principles to the world. In india , more than half the population are poor , people are starving to death. Inspite these background , GOI funded & aided terrorist outfits in former east Pakistan ensuring the creation of Bangladesh , GOI has funded & aided terrorist outfits like LTTE , TULF , ETC in srilanka , MQM in Pakistan. In turn these terrorist outfits have murdered thousands of innocents in those countries. Are these acts of GOI just & legal ? Is not GOI responsible for all those murders of innocents ? has GOI paid any compensation to those victims or their family mebers ? why not ?
Q19.within india , to reduce the influence of certain terrorist groups , GOI has funded & aided couter terrorist groups , is it right & legal ?
Q20. In Jharkhand , chattisgarh , etc , the government has armed , trained & funded “salwa judum” to counter naxalites. Salwa judum cadres are terrorizing innocents just like naxalites. Is this action of government just & legal ?
Q21.in india, TADA , POTA is being rampantly misused by police. Even where there are no problems of terrorism , TADA / POTA is being slapped against innocents , even children. In M.M.Hills of Karnataka state , STF personnel charged tribal people with TADA on frivolous charges of taking lunch to veerappan , stiching dress for the forest brigand, etc. where as the prominent political, film , sports personalities who have links with underworld , anti national elements & attended parties hosted by dawood Ibrahim , other dons in gulf countries , else where. But these hi-fi people are not charged with TADA / POTA ? why ?
Q22. Film actor sanjay dutt had contacts with underworld & fully knowing well the criminal objectives of criminals , hid the dangerous arms & ammunition in his home , which were intended for terrorizing public. However mr.dutt is not charged with TADA / POTA instead he is charged with illegal possession of arms act ( which is normally applied to farmers who use illegal home made guns to scare away animals , birds in their farms ). Why this favourable treatment of mr.dutt by police ? prosecution ? is this because dutt is politically mighty & rich ?
Q23. Law is one & same for all , the public servants, police interpretes , enforces it differentially between rich & poor ? why this differentiation ?
Q24.recently in Bangalore police nabbed criminals belonging to international criminal syndicate selling duplicate nokia mobiles. Every nokia mobile comes with 15 digit IMEI number , this number is also used by police for tracking criminals. In consumer dispute at consumer disputes redressal forum Mysore CD 49/05 , nokia company stated that all it’s products come with IMEI number only & stated that the product in dispute sold by tata indicom dealer M/S INTOTO COMMUNICATIONS , Mysore are not their’s as it doesn’t have IMEI numbers. Further nokia stated they don’t have any business relationship with either tata indicom or it’s dealer. However the tata indicom dealer stated that indeed his products are genuine , first hand products , but doesn’t have IMEI numbers . this proves the dealer in collusion with tata company is selling illegal nokia mobile hand sets & cheating the public. These mobiles are evading taxes , as well as these are without IMEI numbers best buy for criminal elements who want to evade police tracking. What police are doing
Q25. Who , of which rank among police personnel takes the decision to close a case ie to file “B” report , when after certain time limit no leads are found in investigation ?
Q26. How do you monitor corrupt police personnel , who purposefully fail to investigate case properly , so that either the case can be closed with “B” report or the prosecution fails to prove the case in court ?
Q27. Who among police takes the decision to appeal against the verdict of a lower court , when the prosecution fails ?
Q28. Who took the decision , not to appeal against the argentina court order acquitting mr.quatrochi accussed in bofors scandal ?
Q29. Do you treat all the prison convicts same in the prison or does the notorious big time rich criminals get spacious barracks with tv, news paper , adequate food , medical care , etc while small time criminals , poor are crammed into pig sty like rooms with 60-70 inmates without any basic requirements ?
Q30. What is the status of my complaint made to the DG & IG of police , government of Karnataka on 10/12/2004 ? the copies of complaint was released at press meet at patrakartara bhavan Mysore on same day, even copies were given to police & intelligence personnel ?
Q31. Why no action , reply regarding the complaint till date ?
Q32. Our constitutional frame workers gave legal immunity privileges to certain constitutional functionaries , so that they are not burdened with frivolous court cases & can concentrate on their constitutional duties. But these privileges doesn’t cover the individual actions of those public servants like rape , murder , dowry harassment , tax evasion , misuse of office , etc. but still law enforcement / police department is bound to send request to home ministry seeking permission & home ministry sits over files for months. This gives the accussed ample time to destroy evidences. Is it right & legal ?
Q33. Does legal immunity privileges cover their official actions alone ? if not what does it cover ?
Q34. What is the time limit for home ministry to give sanction for the prosecution of tainted constitutional functionaries ?
Q35. How many present MPs , MLAs , MUNICIAPAL CORPORATORS , other people’s representatives are facing criminal charges ?
Q36. In the past , how many MPs , MLAs , corporators were facing criminal charges , yearwise since 1987 ? how many of them were eventually convicted ?
Q37. How many MPs , MLAs , prominent film , sports personalities have have contacts with underworld , foreign intelligence agencies ?
Q38. How many of them have attended frequent parties hosted by underworld dons in gulf countries , else where ?
Q39. How many MP , MLA , other people’s representatives are wanted by police in various cases . but shown in the police records as absconding but in reality are attending the proceedings of the house as usual ?
Q40. When did smt. Sonia Gandhi became a citizen of india ? did she occupy any public office before naturalization ?
Q41. In india , how many MPs , MLAs , MLCs are of foreign origin or have a spouse of foreign origin ?
Q42. Does smt. Sonia Gandhi have citizenship of any other country ?
Q43. Did she occupy any public office while enjoying dual citizenship ?
Q44. How do you monitor public servants who have spouses of foreign origin & while they are on foreign tour , from national security perspective ?
Q45. Is mr. M.S SUBBA member of parliament a citizen of india ?
Q46. What is the status of complaint made by former union minister mr.subramanya swamy alleging that late P.M rajiv gandhi’s family received money from foreign intelligence agencies ?
Q47. In many cases like mass riots involving certain political parties , when that culprit party comes to power all the cases involving it’s partymen are withdrawn by the government orelse prosecution fails to prove it’s case & prefers not to appeal. Just remember Bombay riot case involving shiv sainiks & others , when shiv sena – BJP came to power in Maharashtra , all the cases against it’s partymen were withdrawn. Are these type of decisions by government just & legal ?
Q48.what damages has been done to india’s national security due to mole in the PMO, as alleged by former union minister mr.natwar singh ?
Q49. What action by the government ?
Q50. How many Indians are in the custody of police / military in various foreign countries ?
Q51. How many foreigners are there in Indian prisons ?
Q52. How GOI is protecting the human rights of these prisoners ?
Q53. Is the government paying any compensation to victims of police failures , fix-ups , , who suffer in jail for years & acquitted by courts upon finding them as not guilty ?
Q54. Do you register murder charges / attempt to murder charges against guilty police officers who are responsible for lock-up deaths , fake encounters & 3^rd degree torture ?
Q55. How many cases has been filed since 1987 till date ?
Q56. What action has been taken against guilty police officers , STF personnel who were responsible for gross human rights violations , 3^rddegree torture , lock-up deaths of innocents in forest brigand veerappan’s territory , based on justice A.J.Sadashiva commission findings ? if not why ?
Q57. I , as a citizen of india as my “fundamental duty” hereby do offer my conditional services to GOI & GOK to apprehend corrupt public servants. Are you ready to utilize my services ?
Q58. Police personnel are always in the forefront of containing crimes , mass fury , riots , etc. they suffer more & even their family members suffer threats from the criminal elements. Do the government provide insurance coverage to police & their family members on the lines of defense forces ?
Q59. What is the amount of coverage to a police constable & his family ?
Q60. Who makes the premium contributions ?
Q61. Do the government provide overtime allowance , food allowance to police who daily work beyond 8 hours of duty ?
Q62. Is the government giving any training to police personnel in public interaction , human rights ?
Q63. Is it right to post professionally trained police to sentry , orderly duties of ministers ?
Q64. What is the ratio of police personnel to total population in india since 1987 ?
Q65. IS THE GOVERNMENT GIVING ADEQUATE FOOD, MEDICAL CARE , CLOTHING , LIVING SPACE TO PRISON INMATES , AS REQUIRED BY A NORMAL HUMAN EING ACCORDING TO W.H.O NORMS ?
Q66. Is the forensic science department which conducts narcfo-analysis , lie-detector test , etc under the control of police department ?
Q67. Is it not right to put it under impartial control of NHRC or like bodies ?
Q68. Is the action of some police officers arranging compromise meetings & subtly insisting the poor to tow the line of rich or else face the consequences , is it right & legal ? this happens mostly in real estate matters.
Q69. Did government make any ransom payments to forest brigand veerappan during his various kidnappings ?
Q70. What action has been taken based on revealations by karim telgi during narco analysis about public servants involvement ?
Q71. How many cases of allegations against judges were made in the media about misuse of office , criminal acts by judges from munsiff court to supreme court of India ? since 1947 till date
Q72. are the enquiry report findings, action taken reports of such cases accessible to public ? if not why ?
Q73. what action has been taken against guilty judges ?
Q74. are the guilty judges legally prosecuted in all such cases ? or has it just ended with their resignation from services or his superior judge not allotting him any judicial work ?
Q75. why some high ranking judges are not legally prosecuted for their wrong doings ?
Q76. are judges above law ? are not everybody equal before law ?
Q77. do the judiciary subject , all the cases handled by accussed / tainted , guilty judges to review , to undo past unjust judgements ?
Q78. how ? if not why ?
Q79. how do the judiciary monitor the net wealth growth of some judges including the wealth in the name of judge’s family members ?
Q80. do all the judges file their annual income , wealth statements on sworn affidavits to the higher judiciary ? defaulters how many ?
Q81. how does the judiciary verifies those statements ?
Q82. is such statements made public , on web ?
Q83. when the judgement of a lower court is turned down by the higher court , what action is initiated against lower court judge for making unjust judgement & meating out injustice ?
Q84. when allegations of corruption , misuse of office , etc against judges are made , why the accussed – judges are not subjected to tests like “poly graph , lie detector , brain mapping , etc” , in the interest of justice & truth ?
Q85. judges are not employees of government , so they are ineligible to be the members of “Karnataka state government judicial department house building co-operative society”. Then how come , many judges including supreme court judges are admitted as members of this society & allotted prime residential site worth crores of rupees for a few thousands by the said society at said society’s – judicial layout , yelahanka , Bangalore ? while the ordinary members like peons , clerks in judicial department are waiting for a site since years , is not the whole thing grossly illegal ?
Q86. in more than 70% of cases before all courts in India , central government or state government or government agency is one of the parties. How many judges or their family members , have received out of turn , favourable allotments of sites , gas agency , petrol pumps , etc by the government ? is not such allotments illegal ? what action ?
Q87. when a person under police custody or judicial custody suffer 3^rd degree torture by police , is not the judge of the respective court which is handling that tortured person’s case responsible for it ?
Q88. has the higher judiciary legally prosecuted respective judges & the police officers for committing 3^rd degree torture , on charges of attempt to murder & murder ? if not why ?
Q89. registrar , Mysore district & sessions court , has called for the candidatures to various vacancies in that court from the public vide notification no : ADMN/A/10825/2003 dated 19/11/2003. Please furnish me the merit ranking list of selected candidates along with my merit ranking for the post of peon.
Q90. registrar , Bangalore city civil court , has called for the candidatures to various vacancies in that court from the public vide notification no : ADM-I(A)422/03 dated 19/05/2003. Please furnish me merit ranking list of selected candidates for the post of peon.
Q91. when a person doesn’t get adequate food , medical care while under police custody or judicial custody , is not the respective judge dealing that person’s case responsible for it ? what action ?
Q92. how judiciary is monitoring food & medical care to prisoners ?
Q93. numerous accussed persons are suffering in jail under judicial custody , for periods far exceeding the legally stipulated sentence periods. For example : a pick-pocketer is in jail for one year , the judge finds him guilty of offence & gives him 3 months sentence. What about the excess punishment of 9 months. Is not the judge responsible for the illegal , excess punishment of the convict ? what action against the judge in such cases ?
Q94. numerous innocents suffer in jail for years & finally the judge finds them as innocents & acquits them of the charges. What about the prison sentence , the innocent has already served ? is not the judge responsible for this illegal , unjust punishment to an innocent ? remedy ? what action against the judge ?
Q95. does the privileges of judges cover both their official actions & the actions arising out of misuse of office ?
Q96. does the privileges of judges cover both their official actions as judges & their personal actions as individuals ?
Q97. are the fundamental rights of citizens supreme or the privileges of judges , constitutional functionaries supreme ?
Q98. what is the criteria adopted for promotion of judges ?
Q99. what is the criteria adopted for appointment of advocates from bar , as the judges ?
Q100. what is the criteria adopted for appointment of retired judges , as governors of states , members or as chairman of commissions , etc ?
Q101. how many judges belonging to oppressed classes – scheduled caste , scheduled tribe , other backward classes , minorities & women are their in supreme court , state high courts & subordinate courts ? kindly provide specific figures .
Q102. what are the legal measures enforced by judiciary , to enforce the accountability of judges & to check corruption in judiciary ?
Q103. are not these measures a failure , looking at present state of affairs of judiciary ?
Q104. does the judges arrange for distribution of alchoholic drinks at the official meetings , parties , at the tax payer’s expense ?
Q105. does any judges have included their consumption of alchoholic drinks , in their hotel bill & claimed traveling allowance ?
Q106. what action has been taken against – selectors ie Karnataka high court judges & newly selected women judges involved in roost resort scandal in Mysore , Karnataka ?
Q107. when common people / tax payers & even government employees are not getting proper health care from government at government hospitals. Is it right & just to provide premium health care to judges , constitutional functionaries at 5-star private hospitals in India , abroad , all at tax payer’s expense ?
Q108. are the judges subjected to periodical health check-ups to ascertain their health , mental faculties & mental balance in the midst of all work pressures , emotional tensions ?
Q109. what is the criteria adopted by judiciary for accepting applications seeking public interest litigations ?
Q110. why numerous appeals for PIL by me , were not considered ?
Q111. what is the criteria adopted by judiciary , for appointing “amicus curie” in a case ?
Q112. why my appeal to honourable supreme court , to make me as an “amicus curie” in late P.M Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination case , was not considered by the court ?
Q113. what is the criteria adopted by judiciary , for initiating suo-motto action ?
Q114. numerous cases of injustices are reported in the media daily , with supporting evidences . why not the judiciary take suo-motto action in all such cases ?
Q115. legal aid boards pre-judge the cases in the name of taking legal opinion , before providing legal aid to the needy ? is it not needy person’s rights violation ?
Q116. is not the safety of witnesses , parties in cases responsibility of the court , both during hearing of the case & afterwards ?
Q117. is the use of 3^rd degree torture by police on prisoners , during the police custody / judicial custody / prison sentence right ? what action ?
Q118. when the corrupt police officer & government prosecution advocate together cover-up evidences , conducts improper investigation intentionally to fail the case – to cover-up rich crooks , high & mighty people , what action judge takes in such cases ?
Q119. how does the judiciary monitor the wealth growth of police , government advoctes , tax officials , officials of licensing authorities , to ensure proper & fair prosecution of cases against rich & mighty ?
Q120. what are the status of appeals made by human rights activist NAGARAJ.M.R. to the honourable supreme court of India ?
Q121. corruption is rampant for selection of officers to quasi-judicial positions like district / taluk magistrates , tax officers , revenue officers , land acquisition officers , etc. how the judiciary monitors over their quasi-judicial actions ?
Q122. subject to conditions , I , NAGARAJ.M.R. , editor , e-voice of human rights watch , do offer my free services to honourable supreme court of India , to apprehend corrupt judges , are you – the honourable court ready to utilize it ?
Q123. what are the status of my appeals , sent to the honourable supreme court of India , through government of india’s on-line grievance system ( DPG & DARPG ) :
DPG/M/2006/80008 , DARPG/E/2006/00057, DARPG/E/2006/00225 , DPG/M/2006/80021 , DARPG/E/2006/00253 , DPG/M/2006/80032 , DARPG/E/2006/01149 , DPG/M/2006/80047 , DARPG/E/2006/01164 , DPG/M/2006/80043 , DPG/M/2006/80085 , DARPG/E/2006/06704 , DARPG/E/2006/07017 , DARPG/E/2006/07018 , DPG/M/2006/80159 , DPG/M/2006/80162 , DARPG/E/2006/07864 , DPG/M/2006/80165 , DARPG/E/2006/07877 , DPG/M/2006/80167 , DARPG/E/2006/08028 , DARPG/E/2006/08029 , DARPG/E/2006/08032 , DARPG/E/2006/08043 , DARPG/E/2006/08044 , DPG/M/2006/80174 , DPG/M/2006/80193 , DARPG/E/2007/00044 , DPG/M/2007/80003 , DPG/M/2007/80010 , DARPG/E/2007/00164 , DARPG/E/2007/00165 , DPG/M/2007/80014 , DPG/M/2007/80025 , DPG/M/2007/80049 , DPG/M/2007/80055 , DPG/M/2007/80056 , DPG/M/2007/80078 , DPG/M/2007/80082 , DARPG/E/2007/02618
Q124. the appeals made to the honourable supreme court of India , copies of which are available at following web pages
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naghrw/message/182 ,
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naghrw/message/206 ,
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naghrw/message/208 ,
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naghrw/message/212 ,
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naghrw/message/209 ,
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naghrw
what are the status of those appeals ?
Q125. in the media , we have seen reports about judges committing crimes – rape , attempt to murder , swindling government money , untouchability practice , the disrespect to national flag , sale of judicial orders , bail , receipt of monetary gains by way of royalty for books , prime real estate purchase at discounted rate , taking round about long foreign tours along with family in the name of official work , etc. by this way , judges themselves are making contempt of court , constitution of India & citizens of India. How you are protecting the honour of the judiciary , constitution of India & citizens of India ? please answer.
Q126. Is the government giving any facilities / affirmative actions to policemen’s family as being given to defense personnel , ex-servicemen & their families , like preferential site allotment , lpg agency , ration depot , reservation in college admission , soft bank loans , etc ?
Q126. if not , why ? after all , the contribution of police to national security is on par with defense forces.
Q127. is not some high police officials addressing their subordinates in singular term , abusing them with vulgar words wrong ?
Q128. is not some police personnel calling public with singular term, abusing public with vulgar words wrong ?
Q129. is it not the duty of prison authorities to protect the health, lives of prison in-mates ?
Q130.what action is taken against police personnel who wrongly charged an innocent person of criminal acts , resulting in his confinement in jail , finally acquitted by court as found to be innocent ?
Q131. is it not right to with hold salary , gratuity , pension to such guilty police personnel & pay it as compensation to victims of police failures & atrocities ?
Q132. does our Indian constitution legally permit a citizen of foreign origin naturalized by marriage to an Indian or naturalized by option , to occupy any constitutional office ?
Q133. during british rule in india & various other british colonies , criminal cases were foisted against our freedom fighters in India & other british colonies. After india’s independence what happened to those cases ? did our Indian government close all such cases or did it continue with the prosecution ?
Q134. in how many cases GOI & other state government continued with the prosecution AGAINST OUR FREEDOM FIGHTERS ? why ?
Q135. what about the status of cases against shri.netaji subash Chandra bose ?
Q136. has GOI deported any freedom fighters to Britain or it’s colonies , to face prosecution after India gained independence ? HAS GOI RECEIVED ANY REQUEST FROM BRITAIN TO THAT EFFECT ? if yes , why , whom ?
Q.137. the honourable supreme court of India failed provide information to me as per my RTI request appeal no : 91 / 2007 in response to your letter no : F1 / RTI / A.91 / 2007 dt 13.12.07 , why ?
Q138 . the honourable union home secretary failed to give me information as per my rti request , he transferred my application to others , in turn they transferred the application to some others. Finally , complete truthful information was not given , why ? as the union home secretary has got copies of all those replies in response to transferred RTI application , will he send me a consolidated reply to my present RTI request ?
Q139. in a high profile case before the honourable delhi high court , we have seen how defense advocate mr. R.S.ANAND & prosecution advocate mr. I.U.KHAN made a secret pact to win the case in favour of rich criminal , totally manipulating prosecution witnesses , evidences & prosecution stand , totally making mockery of justice system . how you are ensuring the delivery of justice , there being numerous such advocates in practice ?
Q140. Smt. Sonia Gandhi is person of foreign origin , she wields enormous clout more than the Prime Minister himself over the government of India being the chair person of UPA. Is she legally permitted to summon confidential official records , minutes of the cabinet , to hold the cabinet meeting of union ministers ?
Q141. As per law , is she permitted to hold constitutional offices like prime minister of India or president of India , etc ?
Q.142. What are the fundamental rights of a citizen guaranteed under the constitution (Article 21) ?

Q143. What are the privileges conferred on legislators & parliamentarians by the constitution of India?

a) Inside the House b) Outside the House

Q144. What are privileges conferred on constitutional functionaries, like

a) President of India b) Prime Minister of India

c) Chief Justice of India d) Chairman of NHRC

e) Central Vigilance Commissioners.

Q145. Are the privileges legal immunity conferred on above mentioned constitutional functionaries ?

a) Cover all their official actions irrespective of merit.

b) Cover both their official & personal actions.

Q146. Are the privileges defined & codified ?

Q147. Are these privileges above freedom of the press ?

Q148. Are the liberty & fundamental rights of the citizens guaranteed by the constitution, above the privileges of the constitutional functionaries or equal or below ?

Q149. Can the Indian legislatures & parliament be equated to the House of commons in England which is considered to be a superior court and court of records ?

Q150. Can the division of powers, namely the legislature, the executive and the Judiciary, be equated to the functioning of the House of commons and House of Lords in England ?

Q151. Can a citizen be said to have committed breach of privilege of the House or court and causing contempt of the house or court by raising the issues of accountability of constitutional functionaries ?

Q152. Can a Legislature or Parliament enact a new law, to circumvent or to nullify the Judicial orders with respect to wrongdoings by peoples representatives & executive ? does not it amount to infringement of Judicial powers & contempt of the court by the House.

Q153. Are the FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES of a citizen more important than constitutional duties of a constitutional functionary or equal in importance to it ?

Q154. Can a constitutional functionary commit crimes, anti-national activities in the name of constitutional duties, behind the legal veil of official’s secret act & go unaccountable for his actions and go unpunished by his legal immunity privileges

Q155. Are the Legislators members of parliament, High court & Supreme court Judges and other constitutional functionaries not willing to codify their privileges for the reason that if codified their privileges would be curtailed and their action would be subjected to legal scrutiny. ?

Q156. By votes of citizens Legislators and parliamentarians get seats in the legislature and Parliament out of tax payer’s money, they get their pay, perks & lead 5-Star luxurious lifestyles. Hence whether a vote of a citizen is above (More valid) or a seat of legislator or parliamentarian is above or more valid in a democracy ?

Q157. Judges & Constitutional functionaries are indirectly appointed by voters / tax payers. Out of tax payers money, they get their pay, perks & lead 5-star luxurious lifestyles. Hence, whether the vote of a citizen, fundamental duties of a tax payer is above (more valid) or a seat of judge / constitutional functionary is above (more
valid) in a democracy ?

Q158. If there is a vacuum in the Legislature or parliament, who is to fill up that vacuum till such time that the legislature or parliament acts provide a solution by performing its role by enacting proper legislation to cover the field (vacuum) ?

Q159. While it is an unhealthy practice for a Judge to claim to be a Judge in his own cause, is it not worse for the members of the legislature and parliament to be judges in their own cause ?

Q160. Are the Technicalities of the case more important to a judge or Justice to a citizen, protection of fundamental rights of citizen.?

Q161. Why not the constitutional functionaries initiate suo moto action with respect to numerous cases of injustices reported in Media ?

Q162. Why not the Judges admit various cases of Injustices affecting public, as the Public Interest Litigation” ? In some cases, the Public or the person representing them is unable to afford the high cost of the case. Why not free legal aid is given ?.

Q163. What is the criteria for admitting a P.I.L. & giving free legal aid ?

Q164. Communication – free flow of information is the lifeline of a democracy. Why the constitutional functionaries are not honouring the Right to Information of Citizens ?
Q165. Recently , while assuming office as honourable chief justice of Karnataka , justice. P.D.DINAKAR , gave a blanket withdrawal of all internal departmental enquiries against approximately 200 judges , is it just & legal ? give me the names of accused judges & description of charges against them ?
Q166. does it not show that judges are more equal than others ?
Q167. who are involved in PF scam ? what action against guilty judges ?
Q168. Why you did not give information to me as per RTI Act inspite of appeal ? refer. F1/RTI/A91/2007.
Q169. Almost a year ago , in the Karnataka state new chief justice of Karnataka high court honble Mr.Dinakar (now elevated to supreme court of India) just on assuming offices within hours scrapped disciplinary inquiry proceedings against 200+ erring judges. In such a short time no human being can study all the cases in detail , then how come he arrived at this vital decision in such short time? Who are those 200+ judges facing enquiry ?
Q170 .Recently in the Karnataka state , high court found out that a district judge without conducting hearings properly , entering fictious dates of hearings (which happens to be government holidays ) facilitated in exonerating a top politician . has the court enquired into the previous judgements of the accussed judge ? did it find any wrongdoings?
Q171. As per law , while on duty a person should not be drunk , under the influence of alchohol , as it limits the functioning of his senses & brain. That is why the acts & sayings of drunkards , committed / said when they are drunk are not taken seriously. However most of the police officers after evening hours are drunk , in that state only they apprehend many suspects & produce those suspects at the residences of magistrates before magistrate during wee hours / night. Some of of the judges are also drunk during that time. Does the senses of drunken police & judges work properly to do their respective duties in identifying criminals , apprehending them & to issue judicial orders. Are these actions of police & judges in drunken state legal ?

Q 172 . What action has been taken in bhopal gas leak case against the guilty police officials who changed the charge sheet against union carbide officials ?

Q 173 . What action has been taken against guilty police officials , district magistrate , state ministers & central ministers who fully aided the criminals – Union Carbide official Mr. Anderson to escape law , to jump bail & flee the country without court’s permission ?

Q 174 . What action has been taken against the above said guilty with respect to their contempt of court & for aiding a criminal to escape ?

Q 175. What action has been taken against the chief justice of India , who changed the legal clause under which the guilty should be tried ? what action has been taken against the CJI who became an official of the trust belonging to the criminal ?

Q 176 . What action has been taken against the Indian Public servant who decided to withdraw cases from US Courts with respect to Bhopal gas tragedy ?

Q 177 . What action has been taken against the state labour department & pollution control board officials who have failed in their duties , inspite of earlier warnings by journalists ?

Q 178 . What action has been taken against state cabinet ministers who decided the quantum of compensation money to favour the criminal although they don’t have right to do so ?

Q 179 . What action has been taken against Presiding Judge of the trial court , Chief Justice of India , state police officials , public prosecutors & Central Bureau of Investigation officials who kept quite all along and didn’t press for the extradition of the criminal Mr.Anderson , for producing the criminal accussed no.1 before the trial court ?

Q 180 . Is it not SHAMEFUL for the judiciary , police , government officials & people’s representatives who became part of Operation Crime Hush Up & aided criminals responsible for ghastly murders of thousands & maiming of lakhs of hapless public in Bhopal Gas Leak Tragedy?

Q 181 . Are these Corrupt Police , corrupt judges , corrupt ministers , corrupt labour / pollution control board officials HUMAN BEINGS ?
Q 182    Why police are not registering my complaint   against CJI & other VVIPS ,Even after years ?
Q   183   don’t the police of vijayanagar police station mysore have legal jurisdiction to register the case against these VVIPs ? or just because the criminals happens to be VVIPs ,they are not booked by police? If the said police don’t have legal jurisdiction to book these VVIPs , they should have transferred the complaint to those authorities who have jurisdiction & authority to book & prosecute   these VVIPs , but not done so , why ?
Q 184 are not all these actions , of VVIPs & police amounting to cover up of crimes & criminals ? are not these cover ups itself is a crime ?
Q 185. Even an appeal for justice by post card must be treated as PIL by courts of justice . however my appeals for justice concerning public welfare , national security sent through post , e-mail to supreme court of india are not admitted as Public interest litigation , why ? does not these acts of Supreme court amount to aiding criminals , anti nationals?
Q 186   Are not the honourable chief justice of india together with the jurisdictional police & Revenue district magistrate responsible to protect the fundamental & human rights of people ? why the CJI , Mysore DC & Jurisdictional Police have failed to protect the fundamental & human rights of people including mine ? For all the previous injustices I have suffered at the hands of the criminal nexus Honourable CJI , Mysore revenue district magistrate & jurisdictional police are together responsible , if anything untoward happens to me or to my family members or to my dependents the quartet – Honourable Chief Justice of India , Honourable District Magistrate , Mysore , Honourable Police Commissioner of Mysore city & Circle Inspector of police , vijayanagar police station , mysore will be responsible .

These corrupt parasites will feel , understand the pain only when they also suffer in the same manner. Let us pray to almighty – In whose Court of justice MATCH FIXING is not there & every body is equal , let us pray to that god to give these corrupt parasites ghastly deaths nothing less nothing more.

YEAR TO WHICH ABOVE PERTAINS : MAJORITY OF DOCUMENTS PERTAINS TO YEAR 1994-2014 . SOME OF THE DOCUMENTS ARE DATED BACK TO 1947.

PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER DUTY BOUND TO GIVE FULL INFORMATION:

CPIO , SUPREME COURT OF INDIA , NEW DELHI.

FEES PAID : IPO 16G 733465 for rupees TWENTY only

DATE : 28.01.2015 ……………..………………………NAGARAJA.M.R.

PLACE : MYSORE , INDIA….. ……………………….( APPLICANT)

To ,

Shri. Raghuram Rajan ,

Honourable Governor ,

Reserve Bank of India ,

Central Office Building , Shahid Bhagat Singh Marg , Mumbai – 400 001

APPLICATION FOR INFORMATION AS PER RTI ACT 2005
( SEE RULE 22 OF RTI ACT 2005 )

FULL NAME OF THE APPLICANT : NAGARAJA.M.R.

ADDRESS OF THE APPLICANT : NAGARAJA.M.R.,

EDITOR , SOS E-VOICE JUSTICE & SOS E-CLARION OF DALIT ,

# LIG-2 / 761, OPP WATER WORKS OFFICE,

HUDCO FIRST STAGE, LAXMIKANTANAGAR,

HEBBAL, MYSORE , KARNATAKA PIN – 570017.

"Power will go to the hands of rascals, , rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight among themselves for power and will be lost in political squabbles . A day would come when even air & water will be taxed." Sir Winston made this statement in the House of Commons just before the independence of India & Pakistan. Sadly , the forewarning of Late Winston Churchill has been proved right by some of our criminal , corrupt people’s representatives , police , RBI Officials , public servants & Judges. Some of the below mentioned public servants fall among the category of churchill’s men – Rogues , Rascals & Freebooters. RBI Officials are denying me information under one pretext or the other and covering-up SCAM worth crores of rupees.

HEREBY , I DO HUMBLY REQUEST YOU TO GIVE ME WRITTEN STATEMENTS / ANSWERS TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS - WHICH IN ITSELF ( ie answers ) ARE THE INFORMATION SOUGHT BY ME. WITH RESPECT TO CASE NO old CC34 / 1989 & NEW NO SC436/1991 AT 21
ST ADDITIONAL CITY CIVIL & SESSIONS COURT BANGALORE

CHARGE SHEETED OFFICER MR.G.HARIRAM RBI BANGALORE

CHARGE SHEET NO staff no.3698/156/84-85 dt 01.01.1985

Amended charge sheet staff no.3798/156-84/85 dt 08.04.1985

1. Why didn't you notice the alleged crimes of 1977 , 78 & 79 till the
mid of 1979 ?

2. This crime came to light only due to anonymous phone calls of good
Samaritans to authorities , but not due to your inspection . is your
inspection division working properly ?

3. why there is no security check up of officers during entry & exit
out of premises ?

4. why there is no individual weighment , individual statement of
value of bags of reissuable notes & bags of note meant for destruction
, after sorting is done, why they are not tallied with total weight ,
value of notes issued for sorting ?

5. Immediately after noticing the crime, why did not you transfer all
the employees of those sections ?

6. why did not you take steps to preserve3 & protect respective
documents relating to such high profile crime ?

7. why didn't you immediately issue charge sheet to all the accussed &
waited till 1983 ?

8. Why RBI has left out , so many officers ( who worked in the same
sections for more period than accused officers ) from domestic
enquiry ?

9. why CBI also failed to put those people in the charge sheet before
the court ?

10. is it because they were in favorable terms with the vested
interests ?

11. did the CBI dance to the tune of vested interests in RBI while
preparing charge sheet & during investigation , instead of
independent investigation ?

12. those left out probables from the charge sheet might have caused
the destruction of evidences / records. During the course of domestic
enquiry / court proceedings , it has been recorded that some records
have been destroyed. Are not CBI & RBI responsible for destruction of
evidences , aiding true criminals get away ?

13. in normal times , what is the period specified in RBI regulations
for preserving old documents / records ?

14. after noticing such a high profile crime the RBI must have taken
utmost care to preserve such old records for indefinite time , for
producing before courts of law as & when demanded. But it didn't ,
why ?

15. does not this point to connivance of higher authorities of RBI ,
with the criminals ?

16. RBI authorities have conducted domestic mass enquiries , instead
of individual enquiries , is it not detrimental to the rights of
defense ?

17. RBI authorities have stated that court proceedings & domestic
enquiry are independent of each other & are not binding on one
another. However RBI authorities straight away took on record of
domestic enquiry the court statements , evidences , but didn't honour
the order of same court of law ? why this double standard by RBI ?

18. The alleged crime was committed in 1977-79, but charge sheet was
framed in mid 1985 , why this long delay ?

19. didn't this facilitate the masterminds of crime to destroy ,
manipulate evidences ?

20. as stated before court , indeed some records , 22nd currency note
packet were missing , who is responsible for it ?

21. has the CBI conducted enquiry , polygraph test of RBI higher
officers - S.N.RAZDAN , W.S.SARAF , J.P.AWASTHI , J.MITRA & others ,
if not why ?

22. is it not due to inefficiency , negligence of duty by such high
ranking managers , that such a crime occurred in RBI Bangalore ?

23. what disciplinary action RBI has taken against the inefficient ,
negligent higher officials ?

24. whatever internal rules an organization makes must be within the
line of law. If such internal laws of the organization are violative
of law , fundamental rights of employees , such internal rules become
illegal. Are not the way of RBI disciplinary proceedings illegal ?

25. as per RBI pension regulations 1990 , RBI has the right to deduct
any loss caused to the bank , from the pension of RBI employee if the
misconduct of employee is proved in judicial proceedings . even though
mr.G.Hariram came out clean from the court , why RBI has denied his
pension ?

26. judicial courts of law are appellate authorities over & above ,
domestic enquiry committees & judicial orders supersedes the domestic
enquiry proceedings. Still RBI showed contempt of court & didn't
reinstate mr..G.Hariram into service , why ?

27. even if an employee's misconduct causing loss to the bank is
proved , before denying him pension (towards making up loss to the
bank) , previous sanction of the central board of RBI must be taken.
But in mr.G.Hariram's case , pension was denied in full without taking
previous sanction of the central board of RBI , is it not illegal ?

28. RBI alleged that mr..G.Hariram caused loss to the tune of Rs.14000
to the bank & recovered it from his provident fund dues. There was
nothing left over to recover , still RBI completely denied pension to
mr.G.Hariram , why ?

29. ideally, domestic enquiry findings / disciplinary actions should
be completed first , then the employee can appeal to appropriate court
of law. In mr.G.Hariram's case , CBI & RBI failed to prove the charges
in court of law , as a result court discharged him from the charges.
To cover-up it's failures RBI management dragged domestic enquiry much
beyond court orders date & gave findings indicting mr..G.Hariram. does
the enquiry officer of domestic enquiry think that he is over & above
the court of law ? is it not illegal & contempt of court ?

30. ideally , RBI authorities should have appealed to higher court
against lower court order discharging mr.G.Hariram from charges. But
it was not done , why ?

31. did the RBI pay interim relief to mr.G.Hariram , during suspension
period ?

32. the undue delay in filing charge sheet , consequent destruction of
key evidences , dishonour / contempt of court orders , undue haste in
giving findings , dismissal , denial of of pension without central
board's sanction , all point towards criminals within RBI higher
management. What disciplinary action has been taken against
J.P.AWASTHI, S.N.RAZDAN,J.MITRA, W.SARAF & others ? if not why ?

33. why charge sheet was amended? Is it legal ?

34. did the charge sheet was amended to falsely implicate
mr..G.Hariram , by including cancelled note vault in the charge
sheet ?

35. does not this itself show that it is not statement of actual
happenings / facts , but a cunning ploy to mislead investigation
towards fixed innocents from actual criminals ?

36. is it true that that only 5% of sample inspection is done out of
bundled verified defective note packets ?

37. is not the conduct of joint / mass enquiries of all charge sheeted
officers illegal ?

38. how come such an important evidence 22nd note packet went
missing ?

39. is it because it may point towards real criminals ?

40. as per the statement of management witness / inspection head /
expert mr.vijendra rao , the notes of earlier dates have been removed
from packets made into new bundles , right ?

41. as per his statement , entire certificates , seals of some asst
treasurers are there , who didn't work at all on that day is not it ?

42. does not it show that some body else was misusing the seals ,
putting some innocents seals over the notes ?

43. does it not show that , crime has taken place at verification
section ?

44. does it not show involvement of some asst treasurers ?

45. why asst treasurers have not been charge sheeted ?

46. why inspection of RBI Bangalore office was not done between 1975 &
1979 ?

47. is it not true that you failed to produce all records showing
internal inspection / audits , during domestic enquiry & court
proceedings ?

48. your expert mr.vijendra rao has stated that some seal marks are
smudged , he has stated some seal marks appears to be so & so. He has
clearly nowhere stated that this seal mark is exactly this , so he
himself is not 100% sure ?

49. your expert nowhere said that 100% sure this seal mark is this ,
on that day this seal was issued to mr.G.Hariram , isn't it ?

50. your expert says during 1975 , he didn't notice3 any fraud.
However approver says fraud was there before mid 1977 also. Why no
action has been taken ?

51. why you didn't produce all records of all persons , who have
specifically worked in alleged sections , the registers of those
departments with daily activity report containing seal nos , packet
nos , bag nos , etc ?

52. are not their chances of some criminals putting the seal marks of
innocent officers over the notes , bundles , bags , etc ?

53. your expert is not 100% sure of seal mark , your records are not
there to prove the presence of charge sheeted officers in the alleged
sections , neither your expert nor your records are 100% sure on what
date , at what stage , by whom crime was committed , isn't it ?

54. is not the charge sheet amounting to higher ups picking up
officers they dislike & falsely implicating them ?

55. is it not cunning ploy of higher ups to divert attention from
original criminals ?

56. why no action was taken against currency officer of 1977-79
mr.J.Mitra ? why his pension , super annuation benefits were not
withheld ?

57. what is your justification , supporting evidence , records for
picking up only three officers including mr.G.Hariram for legal
prosecution and leaving the majority of probables ?

58. why you have dropped charges against five asst treasurers ? why
you didn't even conduct domestic enquiry against them , let alone
legal prosecution ?

59. Is it RBI's & CBI's way of fair play & justice ?

60. as inly 5% sampling of verified note bundles are done , there are
more possibilities of rebundled packets getting unnoticed in relaxed
95% lot , isn't it ?

61. you have left out so many officers who worked in those sections,
some of whom even became management witnesses , instead of being
charge sheeted by the management, is it fair play & legal ?

62. who are the bank employees , from whom you have recovered the alleged bank loss of Rs.220000 ?

63. were all of them charge sheeted , enquired , legally prosecuted ,
dismissed & their pension , gratuity withheld ?

64. you don't have any internal statuotary records to prove that
mr.G.Hariram worked in those departments , except a currency officer's
office note dated just on the eve of charge sheet years after the
alleged crime ? does it not prove that this note has been concocted
just to fix mr.G.Hariram ?

65. where as you have records of other officials attendance in those
departments , but not charge sheeted them why ?

66. three officers of staff grade A daily work in three sections out of 40 officers , why you have picked up only mr.G.Hariram , out of 1095 working days , he has worked for only 223 days in those
sections , still those officers who worked for more days in those
sections are not charge sheeted why ? the approver , the management
expert witness , shift registers , V2 registers , Destruction
certificates , Form CD 55 , etc , nobody , no records were able to say
on what date , at what stage , by whom crime took place , also they
were unable to say on what date at what stage crime was committed by
mr.G.Hariram ? is it not futile imagination , cunning ploy of RBI
higher authorities to fix innocent Mr.G.Hariram ?

67. the management expert witnesses said , the most probable place of
crime is punching / Cancelled Note Vault , incinerator , where asst
treasurers were joint custodians . they were not enquired & let off
why ?

68. the charge sheet alleges extraction / substitution of
defaced note packets. Where as the management expert witness say
substitution of defaced notes only ? is not there difference between
loss of one number of note & 100 number of notes ?

69. as per the normal course of duty , staff officers does not
count notes in each bundles , but they just count the number of
bundles only. Is not there chances of inserted note bundles or bundles
containing less number of notes going unnoticed ? is it not the
failure of statuotary system of work practices ?

70. does not all these prove higher authorities of RBI & CBI
were hell bent to fix mr.G.Hariram & to shield the original
criminals ?

Questions with respect to other cases :

71. how do you monitor the work of bank officials nominated as
directors of companies which have availed bank loans ?

72. how do you monitor the work of companies , in which banks
have invested ?

73. how do you monitor the rapid wealth growth of certain bank
officials , who work in shares investment / equity funds section ,
etc ?

74. inspite of project reports by bank officials , over
assessment of collateral securites / value of debtor companies by bank
officials , the loans become NPAs & full value cann't be realized in
the market by selling off the assets of debtor companies also. In such
cases , what action is taken against erring bank officials who collude
with criminal industrialists for availing higher amount of loan than
permissible ?

75. give bankwise specific figures of NPAs.

76. give names of industrial groups / promoters whose
companies have become NPAs , so that public can be aware of them ,
before investing in new companies promoted by them.

77. is not collection of loan from debtors of bank through
rowdies / recovery agents , illegal ?

78. why not criminal complaints filed against bank mangers for
aiding , abetting rowdism , murdering people ?

79. if your method of employing rowdies to collect loans of Rs.
10000 from commoners is right , what would you do to a promoter of a
debtor company to recover loans of crores of rupees , supari killing ?
but debtors of crores of rupees is let off coolly by banks , why ?

80. what is the exact amount of loss caused to the exchequer
by karim lala telgi who printed fake stamp papers ?

81. what action has been taken against those involved ?

82. have you taken action against all those mentioned by telgi
during narco analysis test , if not why ? is it because they are
powerful & bigwigs ?

83. how you are controlling the illegal finance activities ,
money lending by individuals , pawn brokers & chit fund companies ?

84. how you are monitoring the receipt of public donations ,
foreign donations by many NGOs ?

85. how many erring NGOs , chit fund companies , pawn
brokers , individuals you have booked for illegal finance activities ?

Questions relating to RBI CURRENCY NOTE PRESS MYSORE

86. who were responsible for selling the good printing machine at
security press nasik to scamster karim lala telgi as scrap ?

87. who recruited the candidates below merit rankings in R.B.I for
what criminal roles ?

88. how many irregularities have taken place in R.B.I till date ?

89. who is responsible for installing, operating & supervising the
security set-up in R.B.I ?

90. how the raw materials ie number of paper sheets, ink, etc are
accounted for in inward stores & while issuing for printing ?

91. how wastages, scrap of ink , papers , etc in the printing process
are accounted for?

92. How the finished goods ie currency notes are accounted for ?

93. Who keeps physical figures & possession of goods, inventory of
all the above?

94. How the scrap paper is disposed off ?

95. From security angle who keeps track from start till dispatch ?

96. Give me the merit ranking list of all candidates for the
post of stores assistant in BRBNMPL in the year 1995-96 ?

97. give me the merit ranking list of all candidates for the
post of process assistant at BRBNMPL in the year 1996 ?

98. give me the merit ranking list of all candidates for the
post of process assistants & maintenance assistants at BRBNMPL in the
year 1996-1998 ?

99. is not RBI & BRBNMPL authorities created by statuotary
laws , fully funded by public money ie from government exchequer ?

100. still why BRBNMPL & RBI refused to answer my previous
information request as per RTI Act ? are you afraid that skeletons
will come out of cubboard ?

101. what action initiated against the SBI branch Bangalore & SBI
Overseas branch for loss of cheque / draft amounting to crores of
rupees ? if not why ?

102. give me specific figures bank wise with respect to loss caused
to the bank by loss of cheques or demand drafts , etc ?

103. how RBI is containing crimes of loss of cheques / DDs causing huge losses to the banks to the tune of crores of rupees ?

104. what action taken against the RBI officials who are covering up crimes inspite of my repeated appeals & RTI requests ?

YEAR TO WHICH ABOVE PERTAINS : MAJORITY OF DOCUMENTS PERTAINS TO YEAR 1988 onwards . SOME OF THE DOCUMENTS ARE DATED BACK TO 1947.

PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER DUTY BOUND TO GIVE INFORMATION :

CPIO , C/o PCGM and Secretary , Secretary’s Department , Reserve Bank of India , 16 th floor, Central Office Building , Shahid Bhagat Singh Marg , Mumbai – 400 001

FEES PAID : IPO 16G 733466 for rupees TWENTY only

DATE : 28.01.2015 ……………..………………………NAGARAJA.M.R.

PLACE : MYSORE , INDIA….. ……………………….( APPLICANT)

Forced jail sex charge rocks Parappana Agrahara brass

HC raises query, based on which jail authorities have ordered an investigation

The Prisons Department has initiated an inquiry into alleged sexual harassment inside Parappana Agrahara Central Prisons, which will be conducted jointly with the Women and Child Welfare Department. The inquiry was ordered based on a petition signed by women inmates alleging that prison officials sent them to men convicts for sex, charging between Rs 300 to Rs 500. The letters were dropped at grievance boxes placed inside the women's wing of Parappana Agrahara Central Prisons. The letters then found their way to the High Court, which has sought a report.

Prisons officials maintained that the anonymous petitions were the result of either mudslinging among officials, or a tussle between officials and inmates. They maintained that the entire area inside the prisons complex is being monitored by CCTV cameras and it was impossible to send women from their wing to the men's, or allow men to enter the women's wing. They, however, said that an enquiry would be conducted. The move came after the home minister's direction in this regard.

"The charges are false and as the entire area is under CCTV surveillance, nothing of this sort can ever happen," V S Raja, additional IG (prisons) told Bangalore Mirror. "The norms are strictly followed inside and it's impossible for women to come to the men's area as alleged. These things may happen outside the prisons when they are out on parole. These allegations may be the result of mudslinging between officials and inmates. To defame one, the other writes a petition. The state women's commission brass and the parliamentary committee were inside the prisons on Thursday and today (Friday), and they spoke to women inmates at length in private. If the complaints were genuine, they would have provided them with names. But nothing of that sort has happened. Anonymous petitions are being written often from prisons. But we are not taking them lightly. We are going to investigate the matter. If allegations of sexual harassment are found to be true, they will be dealt with seriously."

Sources, however, said the hospital and the kitchen area where women are made to work at odd hours, like 1 am to 4 am, should be brought under the scanner and investigated. Though women are not allowed to work at odd hours, they are brought out under the pretext of helping with preparations for cooking. Both male and female warders in night shifts are involved in this and it should be probed, a source said. The source suggested that women prisoners be shifted to the women's prison in Tumkur, where occupancy is just 30 percent, to avoid recurrence of such allegations.

Bangalore: Police Carry Out Night Raid in Jail

A large number of policemen carried out a raid at the Parapanagrahara jail in Bangalore late on Tuesday and seized several mobile phones and cash.

The operation by policemen, supervised by several senior officers, was launched late in the night and continued until after midnight, police said.

The seized articles included mobile phones, besides "some cash", police said.

Mobiles, drugs found during raid on Naini Jail

A raid on Naini Central Jail premises on Wednesday led to the recovery of eight mobile phones, 40 pouches of bhang and 35 of ganja along with small knives and other items. These items were found near the barracks of the highly sensitive jail.

According to reports, a team of top jail officials led by ADG, jail, ML Prakash found these items along with four SIM cards, 10 mobile batteries, six chargers, 90 lighters, blades and three scissors.

District police chief Umesh Kumar Srivastava told TOI that a team of senior jail authorities led by the ADG (jail) conducted a surprise check inside Naini Central Jail and found objectionable articles lying near the barracks. He further added that jail authorities have decided to lodge an FIR with Naini police station regarding the recovery of objectionable articles and mobile phones.

The surprise raid, according to police officials, started at 8:30 am and lasted for four hours. The senior jail authorities checked all barracks and jail campus and took bandi-rakshak (barrack guards) to task for laxity.

The jailor of Naini Central Jail told TOI that the surprise inspection was carried out by higher jail authorities and action would be initiated against erring guards once the FIR was lodged.

Sources told TOI that top jail authorities were shocked with the recovery of scissors, lighters, small knives and blades and took the Naini Jail authorities to task for their lax approach. They added that officials also sought to know as to how such articles entered the jail premises and a notice in the same regard would be served to the officials concerned.

Cuttack: Jail Raid Yields SIM Cards, Cigarettes, Contraband

Several banned articles like cell phone SIM cards, cigarettes, opium and ganja were recovered during a raid in Choudwar Jail here.
Even gold jewellery worth over Rs five lakh was found in possession of the inmates during a raid by the Commissionerate police and Cuttack district administration in the prison yesterday, police said today.
The raid was follow-up of a probe after the Commissionerate police found that criminals lodged inside jail are making extortion calls to businessmen over mobile phones. But the police on the day could not recover a single mobile phone from the cells of the jail, although few SIM cards were found lying in the garbage.
"Phone call detail records and mobile tracking have clearly indicated that the calls were made from the jail premises," said a senior city police officer.
He said stringent action should be taken against the persons helping the prisoners getting access to mobile phones.

Editorial : Safety of Jail Inmates Responsibility of Judges

The presiding judge of the case who issues arrest warrant against a person , who rejects the bail plea of the accused and the judge who remands accused to police custody / judicial custody is fully responsible for safety , human rights of the prison / jail inmates. Use of 3^rd degree torture is rampant in jails and in all such cases , respective presiding judges must be made to pay compensation from their pockets and judges must be charged for AIDING & ABETTING THE MURDER ATTEMPT on prisoner by jail / police authorities. Are the JUDGES & POLICE above Law ?

Criminal justice system victimises poor and vulnerable: CJI

New Delhi: The criminal justice system largely victimises the poor and vulnerable sections of society and there is an urgent need for reform on multiple fronts, Chief Justice of India HL Dattu said today as he called for the scrapping of laws which criminalise begging and sex work.

"Not only does the criminal justice system largely victimise the poor and vulnerable sections of society, very often, laws themselves criminalise poverty and destitution," Dattu said on the occasion of Law Day function on the Supreme Court lawns.

"In India, laws criminalising beggary, sex work and certain occupations of the tribal community are often largely seen by the scholars and human rights activists as widening the net of criminality by punishing destitution.

"Along with legal aid, there must be an intense process to redo the acts that are criminalised towards decriminalisation of acts that has a disproportionate impact on the poor," he said at the function where Union Law Minister DV Sadananda Gowda, too, was present.

On the issue of protection of women against sexual violence, Dattu said, "We seem to be having a growing affinity for ensuring physical safety of women by curbing their freedom.

"As far as I am concerned, I would like to emphatically state in no uncertain terms that the security of women is not achieved by curbing their freedom and liberty and it is no security at all. We have to evolve some systematic reforms," he said.

The Law Minister, who spoke before the Chief Justice, dwelt upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious 'Make in India' project, saying that the country is being converted into a major global player through the creation of a business- friendly environment.

Efforts should be undertaken to make India an international arbitration hub, he added.

He said, "The government is pushing the concept of 'Make in India' and converting the country into a major global player, for which we need to have a business-friendly environment.

Fifty-four Years In Jail Without Trial: The Plight Of Prison Inmates In India

By Parwini Zora

26 August 2005
World Socialist Web

Machang Lalung, aged 77, was released from incarceration last month in the northeast Indian state of Assam after spending more than half a century behind bars awaiting trial.

Lalung had been arrested at his home village of Silsang in 1951 under section 326 of the Indian Penal Code for “causing grievous harm.” According to civil rights groups who have investigated Lalung’s case, there was no substantive evidence to support the charge against him. In any event, those found guilty of this offence typically receive sentences of no more than 10 years’ imprisonment.

Less than a year after he was taken into custody, Lalung was transferred to a psychiatric hospital in the Assamese town of Tezpur. Sixteen years later, in 1967, doctors confirmed that he was “fully fit” to be released, but instead he was transferred to Guwahati Central Jail, where he was imprisoned until this summer.

“It seems the police just forgot about him thereafter,” Assamese human rights activist Sanjay Borbora told the BBC. Borbora was among those who brought Machang’s case to the attention of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). As a result of the Commission’s intervention and other protests, Lalung’s case was finally heard and he was released after paying a token bond of one Indian rupee.

“He is a simple villager and his life has been destroyed by a cruel system. He should sue the authorities for millions of rupees, but I do not think he is even aware he could do it,” said Borbora.

According to a Scotsman.com news report, the NHRC has taken up the cases of four other men awaiting trial in Assam: Khalilur Rehman has been in custody for 35 years, Anil Kumar Burman for 33 years, and Sonamani Deb for 32 years, while Parbati Mallik has been detained in a psychiatric unit for 32 years.

Though these individual cases have now gained media attention, the phenomenon of accused persons having to endure unconscionable delays awaiting trial is the norm in the Indian justice system. In 2002, some three quarters of all persons held in Indian prisons had not been sentenced to jail, but were “under trial”—that is, awaiting trial.

The largest number of under-trial or remand prisoners is to be found in the jails of Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, and Meghalaya, where more than 90 percent of the prison population have reportedly not faced trial.

According to a National Crime Research Bureau (NCRB) study, Crime in India 2002, nearly 220,000 cases took more than 3 years to reach court, and about 25,600 exhausted 10 years before they were completed. A staggering number of prison inmates awaiting trial have already been imprisoned longer than the most rigorous sentence that they could ever be given for the offence they are alleged to have committed.

A long record of appalling conditions

Many of India’s prisons date back to the era of British colonial rule, with thousands of prisoners kept in crumbling facilities largely unchanged since the beginning of the last century. The only major all-Indian prison reform ever implemented dates back to the Indian Jails Committee of 1919-1920.

The Indian prison system perpetuates many of the injustices of the penal system set up by the British. For example, inmates of foreign origin or of high caste and social status are routinely imprisoned under relatively better conditions and segregated from those inmates who are poorer and of lower social position. Larger or less-crowded cells, access to books and newspapers, and more and better food are offered to those prisoners classified as “Status A” prisoners.

Meanwhile, the poor and especially tribal and Dalit (ex-untouchable) inmates are subject to various forms of abuse, ranging from the denial of visitors and refusal to provide medical care, to prolonged labor, sexual harassment, rape and “concealed” physical and mental torture.

“Our judicial and penal system in its actual working obviously discriminates between the rich and the poor.... If you are poor and have once landed in jail—for whatever reason or no reason—the probability of your being back in jail off and on is fairly high,” concluded Raman Nanda, who complied a prison investigation in 1981, one of the few sources of information available about the Indian prison population.

“Most of those who are nabbed by the police and are unable to have themselves bailed out are the poor. Those with resources, the big criminals, the smugglers, corrupt politicians, tax evaders are people who are rarely caught. Thus our institutions penalise not the violators of law but the poor,” stated Nanda’s study.

In the 1980s, the All India Commission for Jail Reforms (The “Mulla” Committee) found that the majority of the prison population was from a “rural and agricultural background” and that first offenders involved in “technical or minor violations of law” accounted for a large number of prisoners. Many inmates are imprisoned for non-payment of fines or an inability to afford good legal representation.

Among the worst-affected groups are women with children and the mentally ill. Female prisoners account for 3.12 percent of the total jail population and are allowed to keep their children until they reach the age of five. According to available statistics, 1,400 children younger than five are accompanying their mothers in jails.

Last year, the Pakistan-based Dawn news site quoted Zahira, a mother of two and woman prisoner in the Trihar prison, as saying, “Our fate depends on the mood of the wardens or medical officer. I didn’t have regular check-ups during my pregnancy, which is against the rules. Irfan (her infant son) was not weighed at birth. There are no cribs, baby food or warm milk.”

The absence of adequate psychiatric institutions and medical services in India contributes to the large prison population. Individuals with severe mental illnesses, branded as “non-criminal lunatics,” are often imprisoned. With many mentally vulnerable prisoners left to suffer without support in a brutal environment, it is not surprising that there is a high rate of suicides of prison inmates and police detainees. However, there is also evidence that authorities term as suicides deaths that were caused by police and jail guard abuse.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was created as a statutory body in 1993 and has since periodically issued directions about jail conditions. It suggested a prison reform bill in 1996, but this has been ignored by various governments, including those led by the Hindu-supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress and supported by the Left Front.

In fact, there is evidence that the situation facing India’s prisoners is getting worse. At the end of 2002, there were 322,357 inmates in the jails of 26 States and 6 Union Territories, although their authorised capacity was just 219,880, meaning there was overcrowding, according to the government’s own norms, of 46.6 percent.

The maximum overcrowding was recorded in the jails of Mizoram (442 percent), followed by Jharkhand (260 percent), Delhi (211 percent), Haryana (165 percent), Andaman and Nicobar (139 percent) and Chhatisgarh (115 percent). As compared to the previous year, it was noted that jail overcrowding had increased in the states of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

New Delhi’s Tihar Prison, also known as the “Central Jail,” is said to be the world’s largest prison facility. Although built to house 4,000 inmates, it currently holds 12,000, 80 percent of whom are awaiting trial.

Starting with the 1991 reforms, the Indian bourgeoisie has been imposing rigorous cuts in education, health care, social services and agricultural subsidies. The unprecedented social devastation and growth of inequality that has resulted from the policies of successive Indian governments have found partial expression in the country’s growing crime rate. The police have responded to this social crisis with frequent arbitrary round-ups in poor areas and discrimination against socially vulnerable sections of the working masses.

Rising number of custodial deaths and abuse

The police repression that has accompanied the past 14 years of free-market economic reforms has caused India’s already antiquated and overstretched prison system to descend into an even greater state of chaos and human misery. According to Indian Home Ministry records, deaths while in remand or custody increased from 1,340 in 2002 to 1,462 by the end of 2003. According to an NHRC report, a large proportion of the deaths in custody were from natural and easily curable causes aggravated by poor prison conditions. Tuberculosis caused many deaths, and HIV/AIDS remained a serious health threat among prison inmates.

Non-governmental organisations that deal with prisoner abuse allege that deaths in police custody, which occurred within hours or days of initial detention, often implied violent abuse and torture. The Home Ministry reported that there were 28,765 complaints lodged against police for April 2003 for abuse including deaths. In May of last year in Ambedkarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, police arrested a daily labourer and tortured him when he failed to pay a Rs. 50,000 (US$1000) bribe. According to media reports, police admitted the victim to the hospital under a false name after injecting him in the rectum with petrol.

Police also threatened to harm his family if he reported the incident. In July 2004, the NHRC requested a report from Punjab’s Inspector General of Prisons after a man incarcerated in Amritsar’s Central Jail claimed the Deputy Superintendent and other prison officials branded him on his back when he demanded water and better treatment. Doctors found fresh scars on his back that had been inflicted with hot iron rods. By year’s end, no action had been taken.

The rape of persons in custody is also part of the broader pattern of custodial abuse. Prisoner charities argue that rape by police, including custodial rape, was more common than NHRC figures indicate, since many rape incidents go unreported due to the victims’ shame and fear of retribution.

A statement from the Asian Legal Resource Centre, on custodial deaths and torture in India, handed to the National Human Rights Commission and to the Sixty-first Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, notes: “Any person, who dares to complain about police officers in India, faces the wrath of the law enforcement agency.

Abhijnan Basu, who was serving his prison sentence at the Presidency Jail, West Bengal, was one such person who was not so lucky. Officers at the prison murdered him because he dared to complain about the inhuman conditions and the poor quality of food. Three prison wardens set him ablaze on November 12, 2004.

“Torture in India is widespread, unaccounted for and rarely prosecuted. It contributes to the state of anarchy and lawlessness in many parts of the country. Torture is used as a cheap and easy method of investigation and also as a tool for oppression. In the hands of the wealthy and influential, Indian law enforcement agencies have also strengthened links with criminal elements. Even the judiciary in India cannot sever this nexus, between police and criminals.”

The state of India’s penal and justice systems speaks volumes about the true nature of human rights and social equality in a country routinely held up by the Western media as the “world’s largest democracy.”

Jails in India : An Investigation

By Raman Nanda

(From PUCL Bulletin, Nov 1981)
See alos,
Case Study: Tihar, Delhi
Case Study: Arrah, Bihar
Case Study: Sakchi, Jamshedpur

Any discussion on prisoners in a sympathetic manner evokes a sharp response: "Why should you worry about these people? They are dangerous criminals, murderers and rapists, why complain if they are ill treated ? They deserve it." In the popular mind, prisoners are dangerous criminals and hence deserve no mercy. No wonder the local population of Bhagalpur-and many outside-supported the Bhagalpur blinding.
The notion that prisoners are dangerous criminals assumes that our police is, in the first instance, able to nab the culprits- dacoits, murderers, black marketers, smugglers; that prosecution then does take place; that notwithstanding the delays, criminals are convicted-whether they are rich or poor.
Who are the people in jails ? Are they dangerous criminals, a threat to society ? Our investigations establish that a majority are either under-trials or those picked up for other reasons.
In Tihar Jail, in the capital of India, children are simply kidnapped from the streets and made to do all the menial work; the police who act in liaison with the jail staff do not pick up the rich people's children. Those nabbed are the poor, without a home, who sleep on the pavements or in a public park. The criminal charge against them is vagrancy !

Kuldip Nayar, who spent some time in Tihar Jail during the Emergency, writes: "The slaves were boys between ten and eighteen, employed as 'helpers', and there were scores of them. They cooked, washed uten-sils, cleaned rooms, fetched water and did much back-breaking labour to 'help' those who were paid to do these chores."
They would be woken up before six to prepare morning tea and would be allowed to sleep around 10 at night after scrubbing pots and pans. They were herded into a ward which had no sanitary facilities, but were always well lit all night to enable a sleepy warder to check at a glance if they were all there. The warder explained that whenever the number of prisoners in jails xvent up, the police were asked to bring boys to help with the chores.

One is inclined to believe that Delhi is not an excep-tion. For jails in many places are overcrowded and naturally the jail staff needs "helpers." The slave system in varying degrees may well be prevalent in jails in other states.
Poverty, Vagrancy and ProstitutionAbout inmates in Hissar Jail, Primila Lewis has this to say : "Arrested on a charge of 'awara gardi' under the famous Section 169 of the Indian Penal Code for vagrancy, Piloo…. could not have been more than sixteen-years-old. She stayed with us a few weeks and then got out on bail provided for her by a constable in return for a spell with him as his mistress.
"This we learned was a routine occurrence. Single warders or policemen would offer to stand bail for these feckless young girls knowing that they were orphans and without help, in return for temporary or long term cohabitation."
I was told of a similar instance from Khetri Jail, Rajasthan, where two jailers bailed out a woman and kept her for a week. In Central Jail, Jaipur, my friend heard a woman prisoner refusing bail arranged for her by another woman, a prisoner acting as a go-between, "I know why you want me out of jail." The All Bengal Women's Association report on women prisoners in Presidency Jail, Calcutta, in 1974 highlights similar incidents.
Then there is the story of Meena: "Meena had arri-ved (in Elissar Jail) in a fearful state, unable to walk, her rectum and vaginal area torn and bleeding, and raving like a lunatic. She had been kept in police custody for twenty-two days after her arrest and every day she had been raped by five or six policemen in succession. Practically deranged by this experience, she was then handed over to jail authorities. She screamed and sobbed and threatened to jump on the thanedar or sub-inspector just as he and his cohorts had 'jumped.' The sub-inspector of police shook his head sadly. 'She is mad', he. said, and the jail autho-rities asked no more questions."
Meena's crime-brought from a village in Nepal by a brahmin.. . .left alone... vagabond... She was sentenced to seven days simple imprisonment. So, that was her "simple imprisonment". One may go on and on. The victims invariably are the poor.
Innocent?And then there are the prisoners from Hazaribagh and Jamshedpur jails who Mary Tyler describes: "Nearest to the bars slept Bulkani, old, skinny and asthmatic, a retired colliery worker, in prison without trial for three years already, on a petty theft charge.."
She cites the case of 55-year-old Gulabi : "Together with four other labourers she had been harvesting paddy on a landlord's field, unaware that the ownership of that particular land was disputed by his cousin who promptly had all the labourers, and the man who had employed them, arrested for stealing his paddy. Ironi-cally, the two landowners settled their quarrel and Gulabi's employer was released from jail, while the labourers remained behind bars. Gulabi had been in prison for nearly three years.. . . without once seeing the magistrate."
Mary Tyler goes on: "A child was brought into our care. Her father, a widowed coal miner, had gone on hunger strike outside the colliery manager's office after being redundant. On the fifth day he had been arres-ted and since there was nobody to look after his three-year-old daughter, he had been obliged to bring her to jail with him."
In the Women's Reformatory, Jaipur, as on July 1, 1981, out of a total number of 40 convicts, nine were charged with murder and attempted suicide. Eight of them were fed up with life for various reasons (poverty, fight with in-laws).

Once is not Enough
If you are poor and have once landed in jail-for whatever reason or no reason-the probability of your being back in jail off and on is fairly high. This is the impression I gathered from my talk with some of the under-trials in Jaipur Central Jail. "When you are an undertrial and go to the court every fortnight, the people, policemen everybody watches you.. . . You are a 'criminal'. You will be nabbed again as a suspect when-ever anything goes wrong in your locality. At the police lock-up you will be beaten (if you do not bribe them) to extort a 'confession'."
"These policemen," another undertrial said with anger, "ask you to steal and demand their hafta (share). If you do not have the ill-gotten money, how will you give them? And if you don't, they will throw you in jail. What does one do? Keep away from crime and land in jail? Or, do all the wrongs, give the dogs their share and be a free man outside?"
Often when an undertrial is to be released, the jail authorities hold him and ring up all the police stations if they "need" him There is many an instance of a prisoner released by court and re-arrested at the jail gate itself on some other charge. These tactics have been used consistently against the political acti-vists of all hues in general and the so-called Naxalites in particular.
While some are physically prevented by the police from going to the court, others-and there are reports to this effect-by sheer poverty may not be able to get money to meet the travelling and bail expense. Absence in court..., warrants issued... . back to jail.
The reader might well ask, "You are trying to appeal to our emotions."
Well, yes, for why should one look at things in an emotionless manner ? Figures, however convincing- and I shall cite statistics as also official statements--- tend to hide the intense human misery.
According to the 78th report of the Law Commission as on April 1, 1977, of a total prison population of 1,84,169, as many as 1,01,083 (roughly 55%) were under-trials. For specific jails, some other reports show: Secunderabad Central Jail- 80 per cent under-trials; Surat-78 per cent under-trials; Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya-66 per cent under-trials.
Most under-trials are for petty offences (charges whose veracity itself is quite questionable with the police trying to make a quick-rupee through display of their uniform and 'danda'). Some are charged with murder. In Sikar Jail, for example, there were cases where as many as nine under-trials were charged with one murder. Some of them were not even in the area of the crime. The records also show that children of eight years are charged with murder. For instance, in Rajasthan, for which I have detailed figures, for the four years 1975.79, of the total convicted prisoners every year, over 65 per cent of the convicts had been sentenced to less than a year. Less than 10 per cent of the convicts were sentenced to over ten years impri-sonment. And as K.F. Rustomji, former Inspector General of Police and former member of the Police Commission, writes : "The number of criminal repeaters in India is rather small. The number of dangerous criminals-psychopathic killers, murderers, professional robbers, burglars and compulsive rapists-would be very few."
A further point that hardly needs any statistical corroboration-most of those who are nabbed by the police and are unable to have themselves bailed out are the poor. Those with resources, the big criminals, the smugglers, corrupt politicians, tax evaders are people who are rarely caught. Thus our institutions penalise not the violators of law but the poor-crimes or no crimes.

Life Behind BarsWhat are the conditions in jails? What is the effect of confinement on the human psyche, away from friends and relatives, persistently nagged by fears? Caught in his own complexes, with no one to console him, how does a prisoner live through his years in jail?
Food, Accommodation and Medical TreatmentMost of the jails were built in the nineteenth century or at the turn of this century. They are in a state of disrepair and are overcrowded. The Shah Comini-ssion reports that on the eve of the Emergency, in as many as 15 of the 27 States and Union Territories, the actual population of the prisoners far exceeded the authorised accommodation. In Assam there were 7909 prisoners in accommodation meant for 4,930; Bihar- 38,407 as against 21,140; Madhyn Pradesh-16,66 as against 12,388; Orissa-l0,222 as against 6,668; Maha-rashtra-19,786 as against 14,801; West Bengal-25,999 as against 20,237; Delhi 2,699 as against 1,273. And with the imposition of Emergency thousands more were added.
The food served to the prisoners is unfit for consu-mption. According to a report of Seraikela Jail in Bihar in Economic and Political Weekly, July 1978, "Due to overcrowding, a number of prisoners have to spend the nights actually sitting up. The prisoners are invariably very poor people; but the food is so rotten that they find it revolting…..Quite often the prisoners are ordered to lap up the dal which overflows on to the floor. For vegetable the prisoners are fed with wild grass and roots.... A glass of water was found to have no less than one inch of mud at the bottom... . For 400 to 800 prisoners, there are just eight latrines. The prisoners therefore defecate at the drains. In winter, six of them have to huddle under one blanket. Tuber-cular prisoners sleep with the as yet un-diseased ones."
Within a state, the situation may be different in different jails. For instance, in Rajasthan, satisfactory conditions prevail in Sikar Jail. The Jailor, a cons-cientious young man, has allowed the prisoners to form a panchayat which supervises the purchase and preparation of food. Not only are the prisoners satis-fied about the arrangement, they decided to donate one meal each to the flood affected victims in Rajasthan in July, 1981.
However, the situation was quite bad in Jaipur jail and worse still in Central Jail, Ajmer and sub-jail, Jhunjhunu. In Jhunjhunu, where there was incidentally no shortage of water, the jailor sanctioned half a bucket of water per week per person for washing and bathing. There was overcrowding, food was bad and inmates suffered from all sorts of skin diseases. If any one complained, he was beaten up. (Police firing in Samastipur Jail in January 1981, on prisoners protesting against bad food is just one example. In Ajmer Jail, Rajasthan, on the basis of a secret letter from prisoners, the ADM, Ajmer, conducted a surprise raid in the jail in December, 1980, and found 83 quintals of wheat buried in the jail compound. He also sealed the sand over which in des-peration, the jail authorities had dumped edible oil. The prisoners went on hunger strike. The DIG, Prisons. Rajasthan assured prisoners of an inquiry. The result? The prisoners who had pointed out the misdeeds have been transferred to different jails in Rajasthan. One of them was beaten so much that his arm has been fractured.)

Medical facilities-however meager-are available only in some central jails in each state. In district and sub-jails, (asterisk) a compounder or some registered medical practitioner is supposed to visit at regular intervals; the visits never materialize.
"Natural" DeathsNo wonder then that many prisoners die a "natural death" due to diseases which are otherwise minor and curable. In Seraikela Jail which has a capa-city of 82 and which was being used to keep 400 to 800 prisoners, "143 prisoners, mostly adivasi under-trials died between 1973 and 1975". Bhabani Shanker Hoota, a political activist, who spend some time in Rourkela Special Jail, Orissa, during Emergency, tells us of two doaths in judicial custody "due to the combined negli-gence of hospital and jail staff." Similar are the comp-laints from Central Jail, Jaipur. Here I came across, among other serious cases, a undertrial, a man of 22, who was sent from Karoli to Central Jail, Jaipur "for treatment". His right arm was fractured. Not only was the bone exposed, but about an inch of it was jutting out. And what was worse, he had been in that state for over 20 days when I met him. He had been going to the jail doctor everyday and the doctor dutifully applied a yellow medicine and bandaged it. Why was he not sent to the city hospital ? "No police guard to accompany him to the hospital," was the reply. (However, three days after my visit he was sent to the hospital and was operated upon.) In Karnataka, Snehlata Reddy, a serious chronic asthma patient, was denied proper medical treatment. She was refused parole in spite of the doctor's recommendation and died with-in a week of her release.

Divide and Rule
Jails, overcrowded with prisoners and commonly understaffed, are run on the policy of 'divide and rule'. The Jail Manual provides that from amongst the con-victs the authorities shall appoint "convict officers" (COs). They are supposed to be some sort of prefects for the inmates, but actually are the extra-institutional force of the jail authorities. The Convict Officer is a prized position, for it entitles a remission in jail sentence. These prisoners obtain better food from the mess and sometimes the "sick diet" (milk, fruit, eggs).
As a research student, when I said that I wanted to meet the prisoners in Central Jail, Jaipur, the authori-ties would call for these C.Os. I realised that they were viewed with hostility by the ordinary prisoners. These C.Os. told me that "there are no problems in the jail.. food is good. . medicines are available to sick.. Monday parades are held regularly".

Ordinary prisoners had a different story to tell, of course out of hearing of C.O.s who would invariable try to hang on when an outsider interviewed the prisoner.
On the weekly parades, which are held once in a month or two, the C.O.s accompany the Superinten-dent along with the Jailor and Warders. The Superin-tendent always moves into the wards with a massive force. If anyone complains, the C.O.s beat up the prisoners at his behest. The disobedient prisoners, those who 'instigate' the others, are handled by C.O.s and the jail staff together. "Those who demand better conditions and are rather persistent, are taken to the drama hall-meant for recreational and cultu-ral activities-tied to the pillar and beaten up by these people".

The substantial portion of the "income" of the jail authorities is obtained through the C.O.s who are in direct touch with the ordinary prisoners. They charge the prisoners for putting in a word to the authorities for getting them remission in jail sentence or allowing the prisoner to have "illegal" articles in the jail (ghee, charas, or hasheesh). Often the promotion of a prisoner from an ordinary convict to convict night watchman or convict officer is through bribing the jail authorities. Most prisoners live in an atmosphere of fear and suspicion. Though suffering is common to all, one does not see a sense of unity among them.
Loneliness and FrustrationTheirs is a closed existence; visits from friends and relatives are few and far between for most prisoners. Many of them have not had a visit for years together. Poor as their friends and relatives are, they find it difficult to bear the transportation expenses to visit their kith and kin in jail. Further, they are made to wait for hours at the jail gate; in many jails the gate-keeper asks for a bribe.
Then there are sexual perversions of all sorts. Homosexuality is widely prevalent. The jail authori-ties turn a blind eye to this. When a young boy enters, the prisoners have been known to have bid a price for the boy. The price offered is in terms of 'bidis', soap or charas. Often prisoners have been divided into camps and the groups have fought each other on the issue of who shall have the new entrant.
Gross DiscriminationThe stories of the comforts and favours given to some of the alleged criminals, like Charles Sobhraj are well known. Santosh Rana writes about Presidency Jail, Calcutta, during the Emergency: "Some smugglers were there. They never ate jail food. Food reached them from their houses everyday. Some had the privilege of going out to their houses at night and coming back in the early morning". And you do not have to be a smuggler or a kingpin to enjoy extra benefits. In Delhi jail, as those who have been there will tell you, you could have whatever food you wanted, only by paying a higher price. In Jaipur Jail, some prisoners from well-to-do families and undergoing life sentence have no problems in going out. On the pretext of going out to the city hospital "for treatment" they go to their homes with or without the police guard, returning to the jail gate by evening.
While these people get police escort "to go to hospital", those who are genuinely sick and in need of treatment but resource-less are, usually not sent to the hospital. The plea of the jail authorities- "The police does not send us the guards".
What is worse is that even the law of the land allows for discriminatory treatment. Some states classify prisoners as being in 'A', 'B' or 'C' class on the basis of their income or social status. The Shah Commission Report shows that even amongst MISA detenus, there was discriminatory treatment in almost all states.
I shall quote from the Shah Commission Report the part which deals with MISA detainees in Gujarat which holds for other states too with some variations. "The detaining authorities were autho-rised to classify the prisoners according to their discretion. However in April 1976, the Government issued certain guidelines treating Members of Parlia-ment, Members of Legislative Assembly, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Chairman of Committees or Corpo-ration/President and Vice-President/Chairman of Committee of District and Taluka Panchayat as Class I prisoners. As a result of the petition filed by some of the detainees, the Government gave an assurance to the- High Court to examine the case of each detainee separately and further clarified on October 26, 1976 that engineers, doctors, lawyers and persons paying income tax over a period of 10 years of not less than Rs. 5000 a year, who had been detained for political activities and Presidents of Municipalities, would be given Class I status. Businessmen paying income tax of not less than Rs. 5000 a year were also given Class I status..
The treatment meted out to those arrested in the late 1960s and early 1970's under the pretext of their being "Naxalites" breaks even those standards set by jail authorities themselves. Thousands still lang-uish in prisons without trial. After intensive efforts by civil liberties groups and many petitions to the Supreme Court some have been released in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. We just need to mention one ex-ample, that of Nagbhushan Patnaik, to exemplify the physical and mental deterioration that is the result of the brutal administration treatment in our jails.
Our judicial and penal system in its actual working obviously discriminates between the rich and the poor. In this scheme of thing what can be the case for prison reform?
Reforming the Reformatories
Let us outline some of the contours of the problem:

Imprisonment of an overwhelming number of under-trials-many of them being held in custody for long periods.
Lack of accommodation-overcrowding, bad food and an almost complete absence of medical faci-lities.
While hardened criminals are very few, severe restrictions are placed on almost all prisoners. The whole approach is retributive rather than reformative.
Prisoners demanding better treatment for them-selves have received lathis and bullets.
Rampant corruption in jail administration. One must note that the wage scale of the jail staff is also very low.
Lack of resources for jail administration, as one can infer from the low allocation for jails in the state and Central budgets.
Not all violators of law are penalised: it is the poor and quite often the innocent who are victi-mised.
The prisoners are denied "natural habitat" which we try to provide even to the animals we cage in our zoos. This coupled with the hopeless condi-tions in jails affects them irreversibly.

Some Suggestions
First, since on the one hand, we are confronted with imprisoning large numbers of under-trials, and on the other there is serious overcrowding, why not release the under-trials who have been in jail for long periods?
Many would ask: "Courts take a long time to decide and we cannot afford to release the murderers and potential criminals". As already mentioned many of them are not criminals. We need only to recall that following Supreme Court orders, the Bihar Government in 1979 released about 27,000 under-trials and there was no noticeable increase in crime.
Secondly, our prison environments are unnatural and inhuman. Along with other aspects of prison life, this leads to serious psychological disorders and even insanity. The conditions, in fact, "mature" petty thieves into hardened criminals. The "habitat" the prison must be changed. One possibility is the open camp system.

The open camp experiment is. being successfully carried out in Rajasthan. In Sampurnanand Open Camp, Sanganer, 50 to 60 convicts -all murderers- live with their families. There are no boundary walls, no fences with only four policemen as guards. The convicts are free to pursue any vocation they choose. I met one 'prisoner" at a tea stall-which is run by him; another one was working on a government farm and also doing his own farming on one acre piece of land from the government; yet another, a registered medical practitioner had set up a clinic in the town. The prisoners who are eligible for the open camp must have completed 1/3 of their sentence in what can be described as the closed jail.

"The open camp", says the Inspector General of Police, Rajasthan, "does not cost us much. We have constructed the houses. We have given them some land. They earn their own living. And what is the best thing about the camp is that there has hardly been any instance of escape in the past five years. I may add that to be chosen for open camp, prisoners have to sometimes bribe their way through. The idea in itself is very good, is workable and should be extended all over."
Thirdly, there is no internal mechanism to check the functioning of the jails today, which remain oppressive and cruel. Suggestions like employing jail staff of high character, or the strict implementation of the jail manual do not work. One section that can doggedly keep a close watch on the prisoners' plight and make efforts to right the wrongs is the prisoners themselves. They must have the right to assemble and organise into panchayats. Their representatives must be involved in decisions regarding food and maintenance.
Fourthly, the supervision of the administration by the prisoners can be effective only when the rights of prisoners are spelt out. The eight jail manuals that I could collect-all of them, based on the Prisons' Act, 1894-contained detailed instructions on petty things like the width of the belt to be worn by the staff, the number of holes per square inch on the gauge to seive flour but there was not a single chapter on the rights of the prisoners. While there is a need for a jail manual incorporating reformative approach as against the old manual drafted by colonial rulers primarily with a view to punish and suppress political activities, particular attention should be given to clearly defining the rights of prisoners. These rights must be enforceable in courts.
Fifthly, if the rights of prisoners, as proposed, are to be implemented, provisions must be made so that the jail staff do not violate them. These can be checked by the prisoners only if they have the right to communicate such instances to the judiciary and civil liberties groups freely and fearlessly. The prisoners must, therefore, have the right to mail out letters without any censorship by the jail authorities. Systematic efforts to involve the public and raise their awareness on these issues mtist be made simultaneously.
And lastly, what needs urgent attention and action is the question of bias in the operation of our police, judiciary and judicial custody against the underprivileged and poor. Notwithstanding any amount of prison reform, this bias will continue as long as there is gross inequality and discrimination.

Corporal Punishment in India’s Jails

By SAHRDC

Whilst it is well recorded that police systematically use torture as a tool of interrogation in India, the practice of torture and other cruel and inhuman treatment as a form of summary punishment against prisoners is less well known and rarely publicised. Reports received by the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre (SAHRDC) indicate that this practice is particularly widespread in Jammu and Kashmir. Whilst the use of “excessive chastisement ordered as punishment for a crime” is prohibited under international law and is widely condemned in most States as constituting “cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment”, in India it is not only legislatively upheld, but actively used as a first resort of punishment for misconduct in India’s prisons.

Corporal Punishment in Prison: The Indian position

The prison system in India is governed by the colonial Prisons Act 1894 and the Prisoners Act 1900. The Supreme Court of India has however expanded the horizons of prisoner’s rights jurisprudence through a series of judgments.

The Prisons Act 1894 provides for corporal punishment in cases where a prison offence has been committed. As per Section 46 Clause 12 of the Act, the Jail Superintendent may examine a prisoner committing such offence and punish him by whipping him/her not more than 30 times, among other alternatives, as provided in the Act.

The Act leaves the awarding of such punishment to the discretion of the Jail Superintendent. Acts like “wilful disobedience” of prison regulations, use of threatening or intimidating language, “immoral or indecent” behaviour, and “feigning illness”, among others, constitute a prison offence under the Act. However, the Act does not provide as to how these offences are to be examined and whether “due process” will be followed in such cases.

Section 38 of the Delhi Jail Manual specifically grants the Jail Superintendent the power to deal with prison offences or other offences under the Indian Penal Code himself/herself, or to move a Magistrate.

In the case of Danial H. Walcott v. Superintendent, Nagpur Central Prison, the petitioner was punished with solitary confinement by the prison authorities for the commission of a prison offence. The Bombay High Court interpreted Section 46 of the Prisons Act 1894 and observed that the principles of natural justice are to be adhered to by the Superintendent in such cases. The Superintendent must “examine” the prisoner himself/herself and not rely on a readymade statement. The enquiry is quasi judicial in nature and includes the right of the prisoner to be heard, to be fully informed and to cross-examine. The Superintendent must pass a reasoned order after following this quasi-judicial process.

In the case of Sunil Batra v. Delhi Administration, the petitioner, a convict under a death sentence, challenged his punishment of solitary confinement as provided under Section 30(2) of the Prisons Act 1894. The petitioner contended that Section 56 of the Prisons Act, which confers arbitrary powers on the Superintendent to confine a prisoner in irons, violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.

While the apex court upheld Section 30(2) and Section 56 of the Act, the Bench concurred with the observations of Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, which clearly serve as the touchstone of prison reforms in India. The Bench emphasised the need for “reorientation of the outlook towards prisoners” and prison reforms. It observed, “Jail Manuals are largely a hangover of the past, still retailing anachronistic provisions like whipping and the ban on the use of the Gandhi cap. Barbaric treatment of a prisoner from the point of view of his rehabilitation and acceptance and retention in the mainstream of social life, becomes counterproductive in the long run.”

In the case of Rama Murthy v. State of Karnataka in 1997, the Supreme Court pointed to the need for a fresh look at the Indian Prisons Act and stressed on the need for an All India Jail Manual to serve as a model for the entire country.

The All India Committee on Jail Reforms (1980-83), headed by Justice A.N. Mulla, studied the issue of treatment of prisoners and observed that “if prisoners are treated humanely according to set rules and are provided with incentives for showing good conduct and discipline, the need for enforcing prison discipline through prison punishments shall reduce.”

The Committee also recommended that prison offences be more clearly defined. It further observed, “some of the prison punishments as prescribed by Section 46 of the Prisons Act 1894 were not in conformity with standards of humanitarian treatment of offenders and should be abolished, for example corporal punishment in the form of whipping.”

The Committee also questioned the nature of hearings conducted by the Jail Superintendent. It recommended that the complaints process be modified to allow the prisoner a proper opportunity to defend himself/herself, and that there be a right to appeal to the Inspector General of Prisons.

To date, none of these and other useful recommendations have been implemented.

Following the Jail Reforms Committee report, in 1996 the Indian National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) circulated “An Outline of the Indian Prison Bill -1996” to all states and Union Territories in India, incorporating the core provisions of the Jail Reform Committee’s recommendations. However, its transferral by the NHRC to the Home Ministry for circulation raised the ire of the majority of states as it did not account for the fact that prison regulation is a state subject and thus cannot be dictated by the Central Government. This was an elementary mistake on the part of the NHRC, and served to severely undermine its credibility.

International standards on the treatment of prisoners

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) remains the core international treaty on the protection of the rights of prisoners. India ratified the Covenant in 1979 and is bound to incorporate its provisions into domestic law and state practice. The central provisions relating to corporal punishment and the rights are prisoners are found in Articles 7 and 10(2).

Article 7 provides that: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Concurrently, Article 10(2) of the ICCPR provides that "[a]ll persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.” In its general comment on Article 7, the United Nations Human Rights Committee stipulated that there is no definition of the concepts of Article 7 but that distinctions depend on the nature, purpose and severity of the treatment applied, that “the text of article 7 allows of no limitation”, and that “the prohibition must extend to corporal punishment, including excessive chastisement ordered as punishment for a crime...” This includes “prolonged solitary confinement of the detained or imprisoned person [which] may amount to acts prohibited by article 7”.

In its concluding observations of state reports and under its communications procedure, the UN Human Rights Committee has found that various acts of corporal punishment inflicted on prisoners and detainees amount to violations under Articles 7 and 10. The majority of these are still routinely practiced in India. These include the whipping or flogging of prisoners; use of solitary confinement for lengthy periods as a disciplinary measure; using methods of restraint such as shackles; and holding prisoners on “death row” for extended periods, inducing mental anguish.

In the case of Patterson Matthews v. Trinidad and Tobago (1998), the Human Rights Committee requested that the State forward information regarding whether the administering of 20 lashes was sanctioned by law. In India, as mentioned, Section 46 Clause 12 of the Prisons Act allows the Jail Superintendent to punish any prisoner by whipping him/her not more than 30 times, among other alternatives. This is a clear violation of Articles 7 and 10 of the ICCPR.

The legal obligations imposed on India are supplemented by three sets of UN guidelines on the treatment of prisoners. The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, expressly provide that: “corporal punishment, punishment by placing in a dark cell, and all cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments shall be completely prohibited as punishments for disciplinary offences.” The Rules also state that “no prisoner shall be punished unless he has been informed of the offence alleged against him and given a proper opportunity of presenting his defence. The competent authority shall conduct a thorough examination of the case.”

Principle 6 of the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment prohibit the use of torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment on any person under detention or imprisonment and no circumstances may be invoked as a justification for such treatment. A detained or imprisoned person or his counsel shall have the right to make a request or complaint regarding his treatment, in particular in case of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, to the authorities responsible for the administration of the place of detention and to higher authorities and, when necessary, to appropriate authorities vested with reviewing or remedial powers.

The Prisons Act 1894 and the respective state jail manuals require immediate amendment so as to ensure that Jail Superintendents follow fair and just procedure while determining punishment for a prison offence. Secondly, the provision for corporal punishment should be done away with to ensure that such law is in conformity with international standards on the treatment of prisoners.

VVIP MURDERER VVIP FACILITIES IN PRISON

TIMES NOW's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami debates the issue of who is letting Vikas Yadav, the politician's son, get a royal treatment, the victim's mother saying that it is complete abuse of law with Neelam Katara, Nitish Katara's mother; Sumit Verma, Counsel of Vikas Yadav; Dushyant Dave, Senior Lawyer, Supreme Court and D P Yadav, father of Vikas Yadav.

Nitish Katara's killer Vikas Yadav has been allowed out of jail 66 times in 19 months. The VVIP prisoner has once again bent rules at will. Vikas Yadav, the man convicted for the murder of Nitish Katara, has found another way of bending rules for himself. As far as fellow convict and cousin of VIkas - Vishal Yadav is concerned - he has visited the hospital 19 times for treatment in the same period clearly proving how VVIP prisoners manage to get rules bent to their convenience.

An RTI application has revealed that Vikas Yadav has been out of Tihar jail as many as 66 times in less than two years after being sentenced to a life term.

As far as fellow convict and cousin of VIkas - Vishal Yadav is concerned - he has visited the hospital 19 times for treatment in the same period clearly proving how VVIP prisoners manage to get rules bent to their convenience.

While the victims mother Neelam Katara has equated his frequent outings as subversion of the criminal justice system, Tihar Jail authorities have denied granting any privilege to Vikas and said he was taken only on court orders.

DONS LAVISH LIFESTYLES IN INDIAN PRISON

Mumbai: Many underworld dons enjoy VIP treatment inside Mumbai's high-security Arthur Road Jail even though they have been charged with many heinous crimes.

Underworld don Abu Salem is an accused in the 1993 Bombay blasts and was extradited from Portugal in 2005. Salem was a Dawood Ibrahim gamng member but later on turned enemy.

Mustafa Dossa is also an accused in 1993 Bombay blasts and was extradited from Dubai in 2003. He is a trusted Dawood aide too.

Both the dons, lodged in Mumbai's high-security Arthur Road Jail, on Saturday got into a scuffle similar to ones seen several times in Hindi movies, which left Salem with gashes on his face.

Though both have been now shifted to separate jails, what has now come tumbling out of the jail's closet are the shocking details of the lavish lives of underworld dons behind bars.

"I saw that they had new cloths in their cells and the bathrooms that they use have new tiles and are very clean. The toilets look just like it is in a good hotel," says Maharashtra Minister of State for Home Ramesh Bagwe.

The details with CNN-IBN are far more shocking. Seated in a jail a don can just about get anything for a price 5-10 times the market rate. Some underworld dons possess three-four mobile phones with numerous SIM cards and Rs 10,000 is the minimum monthly maintenance cost per mobile phone and SIM cards are hidden inside the jail premises. Separate mobiles are used for talking to their bosses, subordinates and family.

A pack of cigarettes comes for Rs 200 and that of a bidi for Rs 25 while a toothpaste costing Rs 25 outside is available for Rs 300. Raw chicken is available for Rs 500. Some even cook their food on gas stoves inside the jail and a bottle of liquor is for Rs 2000. Contraband drugs like charas are available for Rs 1000.

Sources have told CNN-IBN us that while the underworld dons spend Rs 5-6 lakh a month to lead a lavish jail life, other petty criminals struggle to get even the basic facilities. While the smuggling of all the articles takes place during the night, the jail authorities say they are terribly under-staffed to curb these activities and the jails are over crowded.

Arthur Road Jail can hold upto 804 inmates but over 2100 inmates are lodged right now and the figure even touches 2400 at times. The total jail staff is a mere 250 when it should be at least 750

Due to the severe manpower crunch and corruption dreaded underworld dons can smuggle into the jail whatever they want and even manage their crime syndicate from right inside the jail. What's even more alarming is that high-value convict involved in November 2008 Mumbai terror attack, Ajmal Amir Kasab is also lodged in the Arthur Road Jail.

Five-star jails of India

In a raid on Meerut Jail led by the DIG of Agra Jail to recover and seize cell phones and other unauthorised and prohibited items, there was a fight between the jail police and inmates of the high-security prison. It left six police officials and four inmates injured.

The raiding DIG said, "It could not have happened without the connivance of jail officials. We had special instructions from the home department as Meerut Jail is known for its lawlessness. But we were shocked when a thou-sand-strong mob attacked us with sticks and stones. We were trapped and could only escape after we charged towards the gate."

The prisoners snatched away all the mobile phones and contra-band recovered during the check that was ordered at the instance of the State Government. The DIG has accused the superintendent of Meerut Jail of "inciting the jail inmates to attack us so that we could not find prohibited articles in the jail".

On the other hand, the jail superintendent has accused the DIG of demanding illegal gratification. Some staff has been suspended. The other form of corruption reported from the Meerut Jail included unauthorised sale of items at exorbitant prices. Cigarettes were being sold for Rs 20 per stick. It cost Rs 500 for a meal of choice. A local call could be made for Rs 20, an STD call cost Rs 100. The Meerut Jail, built to house 700 inmates, now has 1,850 prisoners.

A former Uttar Pradesh Minister, serving his sentence in Lucknow Jail for the murder of his mistress Madhumita Shukla, freely hosted a wedding anniversary bash for a co-accused in the murder case inside the jail premises. A sitting Minister when asked replied, "No one is born a criminal and the Samajwadi Party believes in transformation of criminals. You can't stop anyone from celebrating an occasion concerning him, his family or near and dear ones - within the premises of the jail. As per my knowledge, there was no violation of the jail manual."

In 2004, three accused involved in the assassination of Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh escaped scandalously from the Burail Jail in Chandigarh. Inspection of the jail showed that the high profile prisoners were not only leading a luxurious life, but they had also enclosed their cells in a way that their activities inside could not be kept under vigil. Once the cell was turned into a virtual fortress, the prisoners dug a tunnel to escape.

The escape of terrorists involved in one of the most high-profile assassinations could not have materialised simply through a nexus between corrupt jail staffers and the prisoners. Vast sums of money as well as a pattern of internal and external intimidation was necessary to create the conditions for the eventual breakout and a significant network of support was essential to make sure that the fugitives could evade the police system once they were out.

The escape of Phoolan Devi's killers from high security Tihar Jail and other similar escapes of prisoners highlight the ineptitude and complicity of jail staff. Tihar Jail is actually a complex of seven prisons, having a capacity of 4,000 prisoners. But actually there are more than 12,000 prisoners lodged there. Regrettably, there is no fixed rule as to how many prisoners can be lodged in a particular jail.

The following is the existing jail system. There are two categories of jails - district jails normally built for 400 prisoners each and central jails for 750 each. The jail staff members are not from the police and have their own distinct hierarchy. There are different categories of under-trial prisoners depending upon their education and social status. Courts have directed jails to do away with the colonial, vintage classification of under-trial prisoners into Class I, II and III, based on their socio-economic status, but Government continues to stick to the old practice.

Selected prisoners are used for the internal management of jails - to make up for manpower shortage - as well as administrative work. The convict- supervisors become a link between the prisoners and jail officials. They are given an incentive for their work. Any wrong placement or selection can lead to the escape of prisoners or other crimes going unchecked inside the jails.

The Indira Gandhi Government had set up a high-powered panel in 1980 to propose prison reforms. The apparent cause was Mrs Gandhi's first-hand experience of the conditions in Tihar where she was lodged in 1978. Mrs Gandhi appointed the Justice AN Mulla Committee to review the national jail system even though jail is a State Government subject.

The Mulla Committee, 1983, recommended that the Constitution be amended to shift the subject of prisons from the State List to the Concurrent List. That never happened. The Centre at present has no say in the matter of jails except when they are in Union Territories where, again, jails are far from being models. The result is that jails continue to be governed by an outdated law enacted by the British in 1894. The position is that the jail conditions vary greatly from one State to another or even from prison to prison. There is no national policy on prisons.

A sensible recommendation of the Mulla Committee was to classify prisons into special security, maximum, medium and minimum security prisons. Such a classification can serve as a safeguard against jailbreaks and jail riots.

Much before sting operations became a norm with the media, a hard-hitting report had shown that in the Tihar Jail, officials mixed with notorious inmates like Charles Sobraj who ran an extensive drug and liquor racket with impunity. This led to a secret visit of the then Home Minister Giani Zail Singh to Tihar Jail. He was stunned to see a drunken prisoner offering him a bottle of liquor. A mortified Government finally suspended two jail officials.

Criminalisation of politics has produced a strange phenomenon. Criminals have contested elections from behind the bars and some of them have won. Given such topsy-turvy world of politics, prison officials are often either unmindful of the crimes being committed regularly inside the prisons, or sometimes they are the ones to provide prisoners with mobile phones, drugs and food. These jail staffers also organise kavi sammelans and mushairas and help prisoners run extortion rackets and criminal gangs from inside the jails. A prison for some prisoners has become a home away from home.

The next issue is that of under-trials. According to the statistics compiled by the Custodial Justice Cell of the National Human Rights Commission, 225,817 of 304,893 or 74.06 per cent of the total prison population in the country comprises those awaiting trial. The total jail capacity in India is 232,412 prisoners, which makes the total prison population 31 per cent higher than capacity, clearly emphasising the urgent need for a speedier justice mechanism.

Only when politicians go to jail do they talk about reforming the jail system. They forget the issue the moment they are out. We must be clear as to what kind of confinement or jail system we want. The time to make a beginning is now before things get worse. There must be a Central law to be followed as a model by all States.

No restrictions at Arthur Road jail, gangsters take leave at will

Pune: A highly confidential inquiry report by the Maharashtra prison department has revealed that several key undertrials, including Mohammad Dossa, underworld don-turned-politician Arun Gawli and DK Rao (the right-hand man of fugitive gangster Chhota Rajan), among others, freely availed of "leave" out of the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai over the last three years.

The jail authorities neither reported the leave granted to these high-profile undertrials to senior prison authorities, nor did they raise objections to the leave applications in court.

A senior prison officer told DNA that the inquiry report has been sent to the state home department for action as it has exposed corrupt practices at the jail.

Ironically, officials of the state prison department have none other than 26/11 accused Mohammed Ajmal Amir aka Kasab to thank for the revelation of this nexus between the prison authorities and the undertrials.

Sources told DNA that when the undertrials, including Rao and Gawli, were shifted to Taloja in Navi Mumbai, they started demanding similar treatment at the new jail premises. They were shifted to Taloja so that maximum protection could be provided to Kasab, who was to be lodged at the Arthur Road jail.

"The undertrials continued to demand leave at Taloja as they had at Arthur Road," said an official, adding that the authorities at Taloja then reported the matter to senior prison authorities in Pune and Mumbai.

Former superintendent of Arthur Road jail Swati Sathe, who is currently posted in Nashik, said she was unaware of any inquiry.

It was during Sathe's tenure that the "influential undertrials" availed of leave.
The inquiry revealed that leave extended from a few hours to even a couple of days.
It also found that this practice had been going on at the jail for nearly three years.

The authorities did not deny leave to around 45 gangsters, most of whom are booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999. One undertrial gangster was found to have "gone on leave" on 35 occasions, the report said.

The Maharashtra Prisons Manual has no provision to grant leave to undertrials, as is allowed in the case of convicts lodged in jails. It is customary for an undertrial to obtain permission from a court in order to avail leave.

The inquiry revealed that none of the 45 undertrials sent their applications via the jail officials. They were directly sent to court.

Significantly, the authorities at Arthur Road jail failed to appeal against this.

The jail authorities also failed to report the leave taken by the under-trials to the state government, which generally alerts the police machinery to keep a close watch on the activities of the suspects.

State prisons chief, inspector-general of police Uddhav Kamble confirmed to DNA the commissioning of the inquiry, but refused to elaborate. A senior official of the prison department confirmed the developments as well.

Another senior jail official explained that leave is only granted to an under-trial by the court for emergency situations, like the demise or serious health condition of the next-of-kin, besides attending the marriage of his/her children.

Leave can also be availed for emergency medical treatment at the private hospitals, but only under the supervision of the jail authorities. However the under-trials went on leave to attend marriages and death of distant relatives, other minor health issues of family members and even their companions.

Kamble sought a detailed record from the deputy inspector general of police (prisons), Mumbai, of all the leave awarded by the courts. The DIG, Mumbai conducted an inquiry and found the involvement of Arthur Road Jail officials. Another inquiry was commissioned to verify the findings of the DIG's report.

In Pune, 22 inmates have been missing from the Yerawada Central Prison after they were granted parole or furlough in the past 30 years.

Mumbai-based gangster Vijay Thopte who was accused in the murder of union leader Datta Samant and Arun Gawli gang member Eknath Arjun Mohite of Bhosari are among those missing from the Yerawada jail. While Thopte has been missing after he was granted parole a year ago, Mohite, who has several cases registered against him with the Pune city and rural police units, has been missing for more than a year now.

Might Not Have Recommended Parole For Manu: Pilot

Disapproving the grant of parole to Jessica Lall murder convict Manu Sharma, who also happens to be the son of an influential Haryana Congress leader, Congress leader Sachin Pilot has said that he might not have recommended parole to the lifer had he been the chief minister of Delhi.

"I personally believe that perhaps more diligence should have been made before issuing these orders. The fact that he has already gone back (to jail) does not make a difference now," Pilot said while participating in a TV programme.

Asked whether it was a mistake for the Delhi government to have recommended parole for Sharma, Pilot said, "Well I am not Delhi chief minister. From whatever I know of the case, if I was the chief minister I would probably not have given the parole".

Sharma was granted parole after chief minister Sheila Dikshit recommended it. Sharma, who had applied for the parole on the ground of performing religious rites for his grandmother (who died in 2008), attending to his ailing -- later modified to 'ageing' -- mother, and business matters, in Chandigarh.

Significantly, the Delhi Police has gone on record to say that it had opposed the grant of parole. It has been reported that the Delhi government has so far received 132 parole applications this year out of which as many as 88 are still pending, 33 were rejected and 11 applicants were granted parole.

Dikshit had so far been under fire for justifying her decision, saying that it was within the "legal purview" only from the opposition BJP and legal luminaries, who had so far been protesting that it was a blatant case of partisanship. Not only was Manu Sharma granted parole on flimsy grounds, and his parole extended by another month on the recommendation by Dikshit, he clearly violated the parole conditions as well.

Opposition BJP points out that Manu Sharma's father Venod Sharma, who is an influential Congress leader in Haryana, played a major role in ensuring that the Congress government in Haryana could be sworn. He is believed to have been instrumental in getting the support of not only the seven independents but also the defectors from Haryana Janhit Congress which now only has Kuldeep Bishnoi left because as many as five of his MLAs joined Congress on Monday.

Sachin Pilot is the first Congress leader who has gone on record to even mildly express disagreement over the issue.

Nobody would have known

What is even more significant is that the news of Jessica Lal murder convict -- who is serving a life sentence for having shot dead the Delhi model on April 29, 1999 at the Tamarind Court Bar -- being out on parole came to public notice only because he was yet again involved in a brawl in a nightclub.

Observers point out that the brawl on the night of November 6 at F bar in New Delhi's Ashoka hotel that Manu Sharma and Sahil Dhingra got involved with Pranay Dadwal and his female friend may even have gone unreported or been hushed up had Delhi police commissioner's own son not been involved in the case.

The argument turned ugly and Pranay Dadwal informed his father, who happens to be none other than Delhi Police Commissioner Y.S. Dadwal.

It was because of this that a jeepload of cops landed up at the bar.

By then Manu Sharma and his friends had left F bar and moved to the exclusive LAP bar in the adjacent Samrat hotel, which is owned by Mumbai film actor and model Arjun Rampal.

By the time the police reached LAP, Manu had escaped. The police picked up Dhingra, and it was only on going through the CCTV video coverage that it could be confirmed that the person accompanying Dhingra was none other than the high profile Manu Sharma who, most people assumed, should have been in jail.

It was only then that it came to light that he had not only been granted parole, it had even been extended, while he had been out there partying at various nightclubs and bars, not only in Chandigarh, where he was supposed to be for the period of his parole, but also in Delhi.

Observers also point out how thee is nothing new in the subversion of justice in Manu Sharma's case, as the powers that be had almost ensured his acquittal in the Jessica Lal murder case, which got re-opened because of an unprecedented media and public campaign.

Chained In Purgatory

It’s time we extirpated the horrific dehumanisation from our prisons

- R.K.Raghavan , CBI Director

Ashutosh Asthana, the key accused in a fraud involving the judiciary, died a few days ago in a Ghaziabad (UP) prison. The bazaar rumour is that he died of poisoning. Whether he took the poison himself or was tricked into doing so will be known after the inquiry ordered comes to a conclusion. Two other incidents of past weeks were equally shocking. A murder accused sentenced to life hanged himself in Coimbatore jail, and a software engineer locked up after a complaint of dowry harassment against him similarly ended his life. Finally, an Indian student detained in a US prison for sending intimidatory mail to President Bush, has complained of being roughed up by fellow prisoners. Life inside prisons is undoubtedly perilous. This may not be a new phenomenon, but the public now is more aware of what goes on inside prisons. As sensitive human beings, our conscience should lead us into doing something radical to reform our prisons, cure it of its present ills. As someone said, a nation will be judged by the manner in which it treats its prisoners. I would like to recall a national leader incarcerated during the Emergency telling me how soul-crushing detention could be. He was not surprised that many jailed along with him chose to plead for mercy and walked out at the earliest opportunity.

Prisons infuriate me for various reasons. Firstly, there are dubious arrests by the police and the even more galling convictions by courts on false cases, sometimes trumped up by the prosecution, and which end in innocent persons being sent to jail. The notion that many who should be in jails are outside, thanks to political and economic clout, is not wholly baseless. What, then, is the justification of locking up many who are guilty of minor infractions? Secondly, rampant overcrowding of prisons is a matter of disquiet, and of concern worldwide. States in the US keep on building new prisons, although demand quickly outstrips available space. Too many prisoners means abysmal and morally repugnant conditions. Most unjustly, the number of undertrials far exceeds convicted prisoners. Many of the former end up spending time that surpasses the maximum period for which they could be convicted under the law, if found guilty at all.

The corruption that afflicts prison management is of Himalayan proportions. This is first reflected in the quality of food served to inmates, and attributed to malpractices in the award of contracts to suppliers of grocery. When food is inedible, prisoners revolt. Some bribe guards into getting something better from outside. Smuggling in of drugs into prisons is not unusual. Detainees use cell phones freely. All these are for a price, and the rates vary from prison to prison. But these are lesser evils, if one reckons the violence that is routinely perpetrated—both by prison staff and fellow prisoners—on a few hapless prisoners who stand out from the rest for some reason, be it the nature of their crime or their efforts at good behaviour. Abusive prison guards just do not enjoy their work and are clearly frustrated at the stultifying work environment. Some thought has been devoted towards improving their conditions of service. Whatever has been done till now has not exactly improved their morale.

Of course, there are some remarkable individuals in the system who are trying to make a difference and have actually succeeded. The legendary Kiran Bedi made a world of difference to Tihar, one of the most notorious prisons in the world. A commendable focus on literacy and health issues altered the scene. Union home minister P. Chidambaram had a few good words to say about Tihar during his recent visit there.

I had the good fortune to go round the Sabarmati Jail in Ahmedabad recently. This is a historic jail, built in 1895, where the Mahatma, Lokamanya Tilak and Sardar Patel had all been detained. It is a clean place, although it is also overcrowded (nearly 4,000 inmates in a place meant for half that number). A young IPS officer, Chandrasekhar (an agriculture graduate from Coimbatore), and his equally enthusiastic IGP Keshav Kumar deserve every bit of praise we can shower them with for their devotion and care. Their latest innovation is in the area of telemedicine, with the support of the local Apollo Hospital. It has been a boon for prisoners needing expert medical opinion. Online examination of medical records and consultation with specialists for prisoners have the potential for saving many lives. How many in our political firmament understand that a prisoner’s life is as precious as theirs? As long as it is possible for the criminal justice system to make flagrant mistakes and lock up innocent people, we need to look after our prisoners with the utmost benevolence. Nothing else can act as testimonials of our urbanity and humanity, the two qualities that are in danger of becoming extinct.

SC lays down directives for police encounters

The Supreme Court on Tuesday laid down stringent guidelines for police encounters to prevent fake encounter killings by police.

The top court said every intelligence input about armed terrorist movement must be recorded in writing, without disclosing vital information, by the police party before proceeding to nab them.

If the encounter results in death of any one, the police must immediately register an FIR and furnish a copy to the court having jurisdiction over the area.

The apex court said investigation into encounter deaths would be carried out by a SP rank officer from a different police district and not the same police which conducted the raid resulting in encounter death.
The court ruled that no policeman involved in encounter death should be given out of turn promotion or gallantry awards by the government till the investigations establish that it was a genuine encounter.

The Supreme Court also ordered that police probing encounter killing should submit status of probe every six months to the state human rights body and NHRC.

Privileged prisoners

When the rich and the powerful get on the wrong side of the law, it's the law that suffers the most. VIP offenders and convicts are often treated by law enforcers as VIPs and not as offenders or convicts. Security officials rolled out the red carpet for Jagir Kaur, former Minister in the Shiromani Akali Dal government in Punjab, following her conviction last week on charges of abduction and wrongful confinement of her daughter in 2000. Video footage from the Kapurthala jail captured the astonishing sight of officials rushing to touch the convict's feet when she arrived at the prison complex ostensibly to serve out her term. Although Ms Kaur “resigned” as Minister immediately after her conviction, she appears to have lost none of the privileges that come with office. Twice president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, the powerful body responsible for the administration of gurudwaras, Ms Kaur wields considerable clout within the current government headed by Parkash Singh Badal. Opposition members have already demanded that she be shifted to a jail outside Punjab so she gets a taste of prison life as it is lived by countless other convicts.

Of course, Ms Kaur is not the first person to receive comforts and favours inside a prison cell. Industrialists and politicians convicted for fraud and violent crime have always found ways to carry over their material advantages in the vast, outside world into the confines of a prison. In many cases, they abuse the legal provisions governing incarceration to evade the full rigour of the law. It has, for example, become the done thing for celebrity undertrials and convicts to feign chest pain and seek refuge in high-end hospitals which curiously seem able to delay diagnosing the illness for as long as the patient wants. Stories of well-heeled undertrials being lavished attention in prisons — the 2G accused being a case in point — are a legion. The other trick in the book is parole; the reason for the excursion can be anything, a parent's illness, the death of a relative, or simply the need to reconnect with the city's social circuit. Manu Sharma, convicted in the Jessica Lal murder case, famously spent the parole period granted him (originally 30 days but extended by a month) partying, helped in no small measure by his benefactors in the Delhi government. India's criminal justice system is lax, and many literally get away with murder. For a select few convicted by a court of law, the journey from home to prison brings no ordeal that they cannot bear. When the prison cell door clanks shut behind them, the VIP inmates manage to force open a window to freedom. That's the sad truth.

1000 unlawful police detention cases in India every year, UP and Delhi lead

India laps up movie fare such as Singham, but the reality of policing hits harder home than a Rs. 100-crore plus flick. Such bitter reality hit students of the Jadavpur University during the early hours of Wednesday.

The Kolkata Police entered the university, allegedly dragged and injured students including girls, and detained many as they raged against the alleged sexual assault on a student after a college fest.

The city’s police chief claims his officers exercised restraint. The students believe otherwise and want the police punished. The students believe the police action was yet another instance of abuse of power.

In India, reel-life Singhams win popularity contests, those in real are on shaky ground. Here is a look at statistics, which give an inside view.

"In many parts of india, the police is the only visible state presence. police say that there is pressure from the public to punish crimes. this leads to the police acting as judge and jury, beating up suspects who are presumed guilty without trial "
- Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia Director, Human Rights watch

Custodial violations include unlawful detention, illegal arrests, custodial deaths and torture. The numbers do not show the police in shining light.

Around 3,963 cases of unlawful detention were reported from 2011 till July this year. Of these cases, 3,069 have been disposed of and 894 are pending.

In the same period, 2,532 cases of illegal arrests were reported against the police —2,127 cases have been disposed of and 405 are pending.

Surprisingly, Delhi, a relatively small state, comes second in the number of illegal arrests, unlawful detention and tortures in police custody. Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, tops all the charts.

"The NHRC does not have enough investigative capacity. it often relies on the state human rights commissions, which are understaffed and ill equipped. often there are political appointments. to be effetive, these commissions should be truly independent"
- Meenakshi Ganguly

The figures used in this story are reported cases and the actual number may be higher.

Moreover, custodial deaths can also be due to ill-health, suicides, accidents and homicides among other causes.

Interestingly, the system is swift while disposing of cases of illegal arrests and unlawful detention, with a disposal rate of 84% and 77%.

ND Pancholi, President, Delhi chapter of the Poeple's Union for Civil Liberty (PUCL) said, “There is no effort on the part of ruling parties to chart out police training which inculcates the feeling among police personnel that their prime responsibility is to the Constitution, rule of law and to the people”.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) takes note of these violations. In the period analysed, the NHRC filed 72 cases against illegal arrests and unlawful detention. It imposed a fine of Rs. 53 lakh. Disciplinary action was taken in 10 cases, but did not lead to any prosecutions.

The NHRC also filed around 242 cases against the police for deaths and torture. A fine of Rs. 6 crore was imposed on the police. Disciplinary action was taken in 13 cases. It led to just one prosecution.

Abuse by the police, however, is not solely an Indian problem. The US, a developed nation, has an average of 983 custodial deaths per year compared to 110 in India. China, on the other hand, is often under scrutiny over human rights.

A study by Amnesty International — more than 21,000 people in 21 countries participated in the survey — concluded that international rules against torture are implemented the least in India, along with Argentina, Mexico, Nigeria and Peru.

Interestingly, 74% respondents in India felt torture was justified to gain information.

MHA gives special treatment to convicted German drug kingpin

Once described as a kingpin of an international drug syndicate, a German national was given special treatment by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh clearing the repatriation of Christian Fell, who was convicted for possessing high quality drugs. Fell, now 43, was lodged in Tihar Jail since 2008 after he was arrested by the Narcotics Branch of Delhi police the same year. Cops claimed it to be the first ever seizure of LSD, a party drug, in the Capital. He was convicted in 2011 under the NDPS Act for 10 years of imprisonment.

Earlier this year, the German embassy based on the request received through Fell's family started negotiating with the Indian authorities whether Fell can serve his remaining tenure of imprisonment in Germany. However, the UPA government kept the request pending but afterNarendra Modi took over in May this year, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) again received a reference following which the repatriation of Fell was processed by way of a Gazette Notification in May this year.

Using the provision of repatriation of Prisoners Act, 2003, to Federal Republic of Germany, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), helped Fell to be repatriated. Fell, who flew back to Germany, last week was given special clearance by DGCA on the request of the Home Ministry while the German Embassy made special arrangements for consular assistance at the Delhi Airport. According to the Home Ministry, Fell was supposed to spend the remaining numbers of years at a jail in Hamburg in Germany.

A senior Home Ministry official said, "He was convicted for 10 years out of which he had already spent 5 years in India. We considered his request on the humanitarian grounds where he will have to spend the rest of years at a German prison. Fell was transferred from the high security Tihar jail in a police van armed with the commandoes of Delhi Armed Police (DAP) , to IGI. He was accompanied by two escort officers from Germany, Kurt Walter, an inspector and Jorg Dieter Konitzer, an employee in police service. The duo also facilitated the emergency travel documents for Fell which was issued by the German embassy".

Fell who was described by the police as a rebel is believed to have come to India in 1998 after leaving his home at the age of 16. At Tihar, he also taught music during his initial years of prison term but later reported to have developed mental disorder following which the doctors advised him extra care. As a teenager, Fell is also believed to have acted in some movies in Hamburg in Germany. During his stay in India, he visited Hampi, Goa, Kathmandu and other tourist destinations, but was finally nabbed from Paharganj.

Saradha scam: TMC leader royally treated in jail

Rajat Majumder, former director general of police and Trinamool Congress leader, who was arrested in connection with the multi-crore Saradha scam, is being given a royal treatment behind bars.

Just after stepping into Alipore central jail on September 19, Majumder was immediately taken to the jail hospital, where doctors reported him ‘sick’. “Normally, inmates are not kept in jail ward until critically ill,” said a senior officer of Alipore central jail.

“No inmate gets what Majumder is getting. He has tremendous clout and a section of officers are helping him. Jail hospital attendants and one of inmates are running errands 24 hours for him. This is apart from the comforts of jail hospital, with clean bed, special food. No inmate can get four to five newspapers, which he avails,” said a jail officer.

Majumder is given a choice breakfast of toast, eggs, honey, fruits and milk. His meals include preparations of fish, chicken or mutton of his choice, along with vegetables and daal.

Majumder was recently also allowed ‘close interview’ with some of his known ones in the officers room of Alipore jail, which sources say in uncommon for inmates. Majumder was a security consultant for Saradha group and president of some of its companies.

Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners

Adopted by the First United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, held at Geneva in 1955, and approved by the Economic and Social Council by its resolutions 663 C (XXIV) of 31 July 1957 and 2076 (LXII) of 13 May 1977

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS

1. The following rules are not intended to describe in detail a model system of penal institutions. They seek only, on the basis of the general consensus of contemporary thought and the essential elements of the most adequate systems of today, to set out what is generally accepted as being good principle and practice in the treatment of prisoners and the management of institutions.

2. In view of the great variety of legal, social, economic and geographical conditions of the world, it is evident that not all of the rules are capable of application in all places and at all times. They should, however, serve to stimulate a constant endeavour to overcome practical difficulties in the way of their application, in the knowledge that they represent, as a whole, the minimum conditions which are accepted as suitable by the United Nations.

3. On the other hand, the rules cover a field in which thought is constantly developing. They are not intended to preclude experiment and practices, provided these are in harmony with the principles and seek to further the purposes which derive from the text of the rules as a whole. It will always be justifiable for the central prison administration to authorize departures from the rules in this spirit.

4. (1) Part I of the rules covers the general management of institutions, and is applicable to all categories of prisoners, criminal or civil, untried or convicted, including prisoners subject to "security measures" or corrective measures ordered by the judge.

(2) Part II contains rules applicable only to the special categories dealt with in each section. Nevertheless, the rules under section A, applicable to prisoners under sentence, shall be equally applicable to categories of prisoners dealt with in sections B, C and D, provided they do not conflict with the rules governing those categories and are for their benefit.

5. (1) The rules do not seek to regulate the management of institutions set aside for young persons such as Borstal institutions or correctional schools, but in general part I would be equally applicable in such institutions.

(2) The category of young prisoners should include at least all young persons who come within the jurisdiction of juvenile courts. As a rule, such young persons should not be sentenced to imprisonment.

Part I

RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION

Basic principle

6. (1) The following rules shall be applied impartially. There shall be no discrimination on grounds of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

(2) On the other hand, it is necessary to respect the religious beliefs and moral precepts of the group to which a prisoner belongs.

7. (1) In every place where persons are imprisoned there shall be kept a bound registration book with numbered pages in which shall be entered in respect of each prisoner received:

(a) Information concerning his identity;

(b) The reasons for his commitment and the authority therefor;

(2) No person shall be received in an institution without a valid commitment order of which the details shall have been previously entered in the register.

Separation of categories

8. The different categories of prisoners shall be kept in separate institutions or parts of institutions taking account of their sex, age, criminal record, the legal reason for their detention and the necessities of their treatment. Thus,

(a) Men and women shall so far as possible be detained in separate institutions; in an institution which receives both men and women the whole of the premises allocated to women shall be entirely separate;

(b) Untried prisoners shall be kept separate from convicted prisoners;

(c) Persons imprisoned for debt and other civil prisoners shall be kept separate from persons imprisoned by reason of a criminal offence;

(d) Young prisoners shall be kept separate from adults.

Accommodation

9. (1) Where sleeping accommodation is in individual cells or rooms, each prisoner shall occupy by night a cell or room by himself. If for special reasons, such as temporary overcrowding, it becomes necessary for the central prison administration to make an exception to this rule, it is not desirable to have two prisoners in a cell or room.

(2) Where dormitories are used, they shall be occupied by prisoners carefully selected as being suitable to associate with one another in those conditions. There shall be regular supervision by night, in keeping with the nature of the institution.

10. All accommodation provided for the use of prisoners and in particular all sleeping accommodation shall meet all requirements of health, due regard being paid to climatic conditions and particularly to cubic content of air, minimum floor space, lighting, heating and ventilation.

11. In all places where prisoners are required to live or work,

(a) The windows shall be large enough to enable the prisoners to read or work by natural light, and shall be so constructed that they can allow the entrance of fresh air whether or not there is artificial ventilation;

(b) Artificial light shall be provided sufficient for the prisoners to read or work without injury to eyesight.

12. The sanitary installations shall be adequate to enable every prisoner to comply with the needs of nature when necessary and in a clean and decent manner.

13. Adequate bathing and shower installations shall be provided so that every prisoner may be enabled and required to have a bath or shower, at a temperature suitable to the climate, as frequently as necessary for general hygiene according to season and geographical region, but at least once a week in a temperate climate.

14. All parts of an institution regularly used by prisoners shall be properly maintained and kept scrupulously clean at all times.

Personal hygiene

15. Prisoners shall be required to keep their persons clean, and to this end they shall be provided with water and with such toilet articles as are necessary for health and cleanliness.

16. In order that prisoners may maintain a good appearance compatible with their self-respect, facilities shall be provided for the proper care of the hair and beard, and men shall be enabled to shave regularly.

Clothing and bedding

17. (1) Every prisoner who is not allowed to wear his own clothing shall be provided with an outfit of clothing suitable for the climate and adequate to keep him in good health. Such clothing shall in no manner be degrading or humiliating.

(2) All clothing shall be clean and kept in proper condition. Underclothing shall be changed and washed as often as necessary for the maintenance of hygiene.

(3) In exceptional circumstances, whenever a prisoner is removed outside the institution for an authorized purpose, he shall be allowed to wear his own clothing or other inconspicuous clothing.

18. If prisoners are allowed to wear their own clothing, arrangements shall be made on their admission to the institution to ensure that it shall be clean and fit for use.

19. Every prisoner shall, in accordance with local or national standards, be provided with a separate bed, and with separate and sufficient bedding which shall be clean when issued, kept in good order and changed often enough to ensure its cleanliness.

Food

20. (1) Every prisoner shall be provided by the administration at the usual hours with food of nutritional value adequate for health and strength, of wholesome quality and well prepared and served.

(2) Drinking water shall be available to every prisoner whenever he needs it.

Exercise and sport

21. (1) Every prisoner who is not employed in outdoor work shall have at least one hour of suitable exercise in the open air daily if the weather permits.

(2) Young prisoners, and others of suitable age and physique, shall receive physical and recreational training during the period of exercise. To this end space, installations and equipment should be provided.

Medical services

22. (1) At every institution there shall be available the services of at least one qualified medical officer who should have some knowledge of psychiatry. The medical services should be organized in close relationship to the general health administration of the community or nation. They shall include a psychiatric service for the diagnosis and, in proper cases, the treatment of states of mental abnormality.

(2) Sick prisoners who require specialist treatment shall be transferred to specialized institutions or to civil hospitals. Where hospital facilities are provided in an institution, their equipment, furnishings and pharmaceutical supplies shall be proper for the medical care and treatment of sick prisoners, and there shall be a staff of suitable trained officers.

(3) The services of a qualified dental officer shall be available to every prisoner.

23. (1) In women's institutions there shall be special accommodation for all necessary pre-natal and post-natal care and treatment. Arrangements shall be made wherever practicable for children to be born in a hospital outside the institution. If a child is born in prison, this fact shall not be mentioned in the birth certificate.

(2) Where nursing infants are allowed to remain in the institution with their mothers, provision shall be made for a nursery staffed by qualified persons, where the infants shall be placed when they are not in the care of their mothers.

24. The medical officer shall see and examine every prisoner as soon as possible after his admission and thereafter as necessary, with a view particularly to the discovery of physical or mental illness and the taking of all necessary measures; the segregation of prisoners suspected of infectious or contagious conditions; the noting of physical or mental defects which might hamper rehabilitation, and the determination of the physical capacity of every prisoner for work.

25. (1) The medical officer shall have the care of the physical and mental health of the prisoners and should daily see all sick prisoners, all who complain of illness, and any prisoner to whom his attention is specially directed.

(2) The medical officer shall report to the director whenever he considers that a prisoner's physical or mental health has been or will be injuriously affected by continued imprisonment or by any condition of imprisonment.

26. (1) The medical officer shall regularly inspect and advise the director upon:

(a) The quantity, quality, preparation and service of food;

(b) The hygiene and cleanliness of the institution and the prisoners;

(d) The suitability and cleanliness of the prisoners' clothing and bedding;

(e) The observance of the rules concerning physical education and sports, in cases where there is no technical personnel in charge of these activities.

(2) The director shall take into consideration the reports and advice that the medical officer submits according to rules 25 (2) and 26 and, in case he concurs with the recommendations made, shall take immediate steps to give effect to those recommendations; if they are not within his competence or if he does not concur with them, he shall immediately submit his own report and the advice of the medical officer to higher authority.

Discipline and punishment

27. Discipline and order shall be maintained with firmness, but with no more restriction than is necessary for safe custody and well-ordered community life.

28. (1) No prisoner shall be employed, in the service of the institution, in any disciplinary capacity.

(2) This rule shall not, however, impede the proper functioning of systems based on self-government, under which specified social, educational or sports activities or responsibilities are entrusted, under supervision, to prisoners who are formed into groups for the purposes of treatment.

29. The following shall always be determined by the law or by the regulation of the competent administrative authority:

(a) Conduct constituting a disciplinary offence;

(b) The types and duration of punishment which may be inflicted;

30. (1) No prisoner shall be punished except in accordance with the terms of such law or regulation, and never twice for the same offence.

(2) No prisoner shall be punished unless he has been informed of the offence alleged against him and given a proper opportunity of presenting his defence. The competent authority shall conduct a thorough examination of the case.

(3) Where necessary and practicable the prisoner shall be allowed to make his defence through an interpreter.

31. Corporal punishment, punishment by placing in a dark cell, and all cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments shall be completely prohibited as punishments for disciplinary offences.

32. (1) Punishment by close confinement or reduction of diet shall never be inflicted unless the medical officer has examined the prisoner and certified in writing that he is fit to sustain it.

(2) The same shall apply to any other punishment that may be prejudicial to the physical or mental health of a prisoner. In no case may such punishment be contrary to or depart from the principle stated in rule 31.

(3) The medical officer shall visit daily prisoners undergoing such punishments and shall advise the director if he considers the termination or alteration of the punishment necessary on grounds of physical or mental health.

Instruments of restraint

33. Instruments of restraint, such as handcuffs, chains, irons and strait-jackets, shall never be applied as a punishment. Furthermore, chains or irons shall not be used as restraints. Other instruments of restraint shall not be used except in the following circumstances:

(a) As a precaution against escape during a transfer, provided that they shall be removed when the prisoner appears before a judicial or administrative authority;

(b) On medical grounds by direction of the medical officer;

(c) By order of the director, if other methods of control fail, in order to prevent a prisoner from injuring himself or others or from damaging property; in such instances the director shall at once consult the medical officer and report to the higher administrative authority.

34. The patterns and manner of use of instruments of restraint shall be decided by the central prison administration. Such instruments must not be applied for any longer time than is strictly necessary.

Information to and complaints by prisoners

35. (1) Every prisoner on admission shall be provided with written information about the regulations governing the treatment of prisoners of his category, the disciplinary requirements of the institution, the authorized methods of seeking information and making complaints, and all such other matters as are necessary to enable him to understand both his rights and his obligations and to adapt himself to the life of the institution.

(2) If a prisoner is illiterate, the aforesaid information shall be conveyed to him orally.

36. (1) Every prisoner shall have the opportunity each week day of making requests or complaints to the director of the institution or the officer authorized to represent him.

(2) It shall be possible to make requests or complaints to the inspector of prisons during his inspection. The prisoner shall have the opportunity to talk to the inspector or to any other inspecting officer without the director or other members of the staff being present.

(3) Every prisoner shall be allowed to make a request or complaint, without censorship as to substance but in proper form, to the central prison administration, the judicial authority or other proper authorities through approved channels.

(4) Unless it is evidently frivolous or groundless, every request or complaint shall be promptly dealt with and replied to without undue delay.

Contact with the outside world

37. Prisoners shall be allowed under necessary supervision to communicate with their family and reputable friends at regular intervals, both by correspondence and by receiving visits.

38. (1) Prisoners who are foreign nationals shall be allowed reasonable facilities to communicate with the diplomatic and consular representatives of the State to which they belong.

(2) Prisoners who are nationals of States without diplomatic or consular representation in the country and refugees or stateless persons shall be allowed similar facilities to communicate with the diplomatic representative of the State which takes charge of their interests or any national or international authority whose task it is to protect such persons.

39. Prisoners shall be kept informed regularly of the more important items of news by the reading of newspapers, periodicals or special institutional publications, by hearing wireless transmissions, by lectures or by any similar means as authorized or controlled by the administration.

Books

40. Every institution shall have a library for the use of all categories of prisoners, adequately stocked with both recreational and instructional books, and prisoners shall be encouraged to make full use of it.

Religion

41. (1) If the institution contains a sufficient number of prisoners of the same religion, a qualified representative of that religion shall be appointed or approved. If the number of prisoners justifies it and conditions permit, the arrangement should be on a full-time basis.

(2) A qualified representative appointed or approved under paragraph (1) shall be allowed to hold regular services and to pay pastoral visits in private to prisoners of his religion at proper times.

(3) Access to a qualified representative of any religion shall not be refused to any prisoner. On the other hand, if any prisoner should object to a visit of any religious representative, his attitude shall be fully respected.

42. So far as practicable, every prisoner shall be allowed to satisfy the needs of his religious life by attending the services provided in the institution and having in his possession the books of religious observance and instruction of his denomination.

Retention of prisoners' property

43. (1) All money, valuables, clothing and other effects belonging to a prisoner which under the regulations of the institution he is not allowed to retain shall on his admission to the institution be placed in safe custody. An inventory thereof shall be signed by the prisoner. Steps shall be taken to keep them in good condition.

(2) On the release of the prisoner all such articles and money shall be returned to him except in so far as he has been authorized to spend money or send any such property out of the institution, or it has been found necessary on hygienic grounds to destroy any article of clothing. The prisoner shall sign a receipt for the articles and money returned to him.

(3) Any money or effects received for a prisoner from outside shall be treated in the same way.

(4) If a prisoner brings in any drugs or medicine, the medical officer shall decide what use shall be made of them.

Notification of death, illness, transfer, etc.

44. (1) Upon the death or serious illness of, or serious injury to a prisoner, or his removal to an institution for the treatment of mental affections, the director shall at once inform the spouse, if the prisoner is married, or the nearest relative and shall in any event inform any other person previously designated by the prisoner.

(2) A prisoner shall be informed at once of the death or serious illness of any near relative. In case of the critical illness of a near relative, the prisoner should be authorized, whenever circumstances allow, to go to his bedside either under escort or alone.

(3) Every prisoner shall have the right to inform at once his family of his imprisonment or his transfer to another institution.

Removal of prisoners

45. (1) When the prisoners are being removed to or from an institution, they shall be exposed to public view as little as possible, and proper safeguards shall be adopted to protect them from insult, curiosity and publicity in any form.

(2) The transport of prisoners in conveyances with inadequate ventilation or light, or in any way which would subject them to unnecessary physical hardship, shall be prohibited.

(3) The transport of prisoners shall be carried out at the expense of the administration and equal conditions shall obtain for all of them.

Institutional personnel

46. (1) The prison administration shall provide for the careful selection of every grade of the personnel, since it is on their integrity, humanity, professional capacity and personal suitability for the work that the proper administration of the institutions depends.

(2) The prison administration shall constantly seek to awaken and maintain in the minds both of the personnel and of the public the conviction that this work is a social service of great importance, and to this end all appropriate means of informing the public should be used.

(3) To secure the foregoing ends, personnel shall be appointed on a full-time basis as professional prison officers and have civil service status with security of tenure subject only to good conduct, efficiency and physical fitness. Salaries shall be adequate to attract and retain suitable men and women; employment benefits and conditions of service shall be favourable in view of the exacting nature of the work.

47. (1) The personnel shall possess an adequate standard of education and intelligence.

(2) Before entering on duty, the personnel shall be given a course of training in their general and specific duties and be required to pass theoretical and practical tests.

(3) After entering on duty and during their career, the personnel shall maintain and improve their knowledge and professional capacity by attending courses of in-service training to be organized at suitable intervals.

48. All members of the personnel shall at all times so conduct themselves and perform their duties as to influence the prisoners for good by their example and to command their respect.

49. (1) So far as possible, the personnel shall include a sufficient number of specialists such as psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, teachers and trade instructors.

(2) The services of social workers, teachers and trade instructors shall be secured on a permanent basis, without thereby excluding part-time or voluntary workers.

50. (1) The director of an institution should be adequately qualified for his task by character, administrative ability, suitable training and experience.

(2) He shall devote his entire time to his official duties and shall not be appointed on a part-time basis.

(3) He shall reside on the premises of the institution or in its immediate vicinity.

(4) When two or more institutions are under the authority of one director, he shall visit each of them at frequent intervals. A responsible resident official shall be in charge of each of these institutions.

51. (1) The director, his deputy, and the majority of the other personnel of the institution shall be able to speak the language of the greatest number of prisoners, or a language understood by the greatest number of them.

(2) Whenever necessary, the services of an interpreter shall be used.

52. (1) In institutions which are large enough to require the services of one or more full-time medical officers, at least one of them shall reside on the premises of the institution or in its immediate vicinity.

(2) In other institutions the medical officer shall visit daily and shall reside near enough to be able to attend without delay in cases of urgency.

53. (1) In an institution for both men and women, the part of the institution set aside for women shall be under the authority of a responsible woman officer who shall have the custody of the keys of all that part of the institution.

(2) No male member of the staff shall enter the part of the institution set aside for women unless accompanied by a woman officer.

(3) Women prisoners shall be attended and supervised only by women officers. This does not, however, preclude male members of the staff, particularly doctors and teachers, from carrying out their professional duties in institutions or parts of institutions set aside for women.

54. (1) Officers of the institutions shall not, in their relations with the prisoners, use force except in self-defence or in cases of attempted escape, or active or passive physical resistance to an order based on law or regulations. Officers who have recourse to force must use no more than is strictly necessary and must report the incident immediately to the director of the institution.

(2) Prison officers shall be given special physical training to enable them to restrain aggressive prisoners.

(3) Except in special circumstances, staff performing duties which bring them into direct contact with prisoners should not be armed. Furthermore, staff should in no circumstances be provided with arms unless they have been trained in their use.

Inspection

55. There shall be a regular inspection of penal institutions and services by qualified and experienced inspectors appointed by a competent authority. Their task shall be in particular to ensure that these institutions are administered in accordance with existing laws and regulations and with a view to bringing about the objectives of penal and correctional services.

Part II

RULES APPLICABLE TO SPECIAL CATEGORIES

A. Prisoners under sentence

Guiding principles

56. The guiding principles hereafter are intended to show the spirit in which penal institutions should be administered and the purposes at which they should aim, in accordance with the declaration made under Preliminary Observation 1 of the present text.

57. Imprisonment and other measures which result in cutting off an offender from the outside world are afflictive by the very fact of taking from the person the right of self-determination by depriving him of his liberty. Therefore the prison system shall not, except as incidental to justifiable segregation or the maintenance of discipline, aggravate the suffering inherent in such a situation.

58. The purpose and justification of a sentence of imprisonment or a similar measure deprivative of liberty is ultimately to protect society against crime. This end can only be achieved if the period of imprisonment is used to ensure, so far as possible, that upon his return to society the offender is not only willing but able to lead a law-abiding and self-supporting life.

59. To this end, the institution should utilize all the remedial, educational, moral, spiritual and other forces and forms of assistance which are appropriate and available, and should seek to apply them according to the individual treatment needs of the prisoners.

60. (1) The regime of the institution should seek to minimize any differences between prison life and life at liberty which tend to lessen the responsibility of the prisoners or the respect due to their dignity as human beings.

(2) Before the completion of the sentence, it is desirable that the necessary steps be taken to ensure for the prisoner a gradual return to life in society. This aim may be achieved, depending on the case, by a pre-release regime organized in the same institution or in another appropriate institution, or by release on trial under some kind of supervision which must not be entrusted to the police but should be combined with effective social aid.

61. The treatment of prisoners should emphasize not their exclusion from the community, but their continuing part in it. Community agencies should, therefore, be enlisted wherever possible to assist the staff of the institution in the task of social rehabilitation of the prisoners. There should be in connection with every institution social workers charged with the duty of maintaining and improving all desirable relations of a prisoner with his family and with valuable social agencies. Steps should be taken to safeguard, to the maximum extent compatible with the law and the sentence, the rights relating to civil interests, social security rights and other social benefits of prisoners.

62. The medical services of the institution shall seek to detect and shall treat any physical or mental illnesses or defects which may hamper a prisoner's rehabilitation. All necessary medical, surgical and psychiatric services shall be provided to that end.

63. (1) The fulfilment of these principles requires individualization of treatment and for this purpose a flexible system of classifying prisoners in groups; it is therefore desirable that such groups should be distributed in separate institutions suitable for the treatment of each group.

(2) These institutions need not provide the same degree of security for every group. It is desirable to provide varying degrees of security according to the needs of different groups. Open institutions, by the very fact that they provide no physical security against escape but rely on the self-discipline of the inmates, provide the conditions most favourable to rehabilitation for carefully selected prisoners.

(3) It is desirable that the number of prisoners in closed institutions should not be so large that the individualization of treatment is hindered. In some countries it is considered that the population of such institutions should not exceed five hundred. In open institutions the population should be as small as possible.

(4) On the other hand, it is undesirable to maintain prisons which are so small that proper facilities cannot be provided.

64. The duty of society does not end with a prisoner's release. There should, therefore, be governmental or private agencies capable of lending the released prisoner efficient after-care directed towards the lessening of prejudice against him and towards his social rehabilitation.

Treatment

65. The treatment of persons sentenced to imprisonment or a similar measure shall have as its purpose, so far as the length of the sentence permits, to establish in them the will to lead law-abiding and self-supporting lives after their release and to fit them to do so. The treatment shall be such as will encourage their self-respect and develop their sense of responsibility.

66. (1) To these ends, all appropriate means shall be used, including religious care in the countries where this is possible, education, vocational guidance and training, social casework, employment counselling, physical development and strengthening of moral character, in accordance with the individual needs of each prisoner, taking account of his social and criminal history, his physical and mental capacities and aptitudes, his personal temperament, the length of his sentence and his prospects after release.

(2) For every prisoner with a sentence of suitable length, the director shall receive, as soon as possible after his admission, full reports on all the matters referred to in the foregoing paragraph. Such reports shall always include a report by a medical officer, wherever possible qualified in psychiatry, on the physical and mental condition of the prisoner.

(3) The reports and other relevant documents shall be placed in an individual file. This file shall be kept up to date and classified in such a way that it can be consulted by the responsible personnel whenever the need arises.

Classification and individualization

67. The purposes of classification shall be:

(a) To separate from others those prisoners who, by reason of their criminal records or bad characters, are likely to exercise a bad influence;

(b) To divide the prisoners into classes in order to facilitate their treatment with a view to their social rehabilitation.

68. So far as possible separate institutions or separate sections of an institution shall be used for the treatment of the different classes of prisoners.

69. As soon as possible after admission and after a study of the personality of each prisoner with a sentence of suitable length, a programme of treatment shall be prepared for him in the light of the knowledge obtained about his individual needs, his capacities and dispositions.

Privileges

70. Systems of privileges appropriate for the different classes of prisoners and the different methods of treatment shall be established at every institution, in order to encourage good conduct, develop a sense of responsibility and secure the interest and co-operation of the prisoners in their treatment.

Work

71. (1) Prison labour must not be of an afflictive nature.

(2) All prisoners under sentence shall be required to work, subject to their physical and mental fitness as determined by the medical officer.

(3) Sufficient work of a useful nature shall be provided to keep prisoners actively employed for a normal working day.

(4) So far as possible the work provided shall be such as will maintain or increase the prisoners, ability to earn an honest living after release.

(5) Vocational training in useful trades shall be provided for prisoners able to profit thereby and especially for young prisoners.

(6) Within the limits compatible with proper vocational selection and with the requirements of institutional administration and discipline, the prisoners shall be able to choose the type of work they wish to perform.

72. (1) The organization and methods of work in the institutions shall resemble as closely as possible those of similar work outside institutions, so as to prepare prisoners for the conditions of normal occupational life.

(2) The interests of the prisoners and of their vocational training, however, must not be subordinated to the purpose of making a financial profit from an industry in the institution.

73. (1) Preferably institutional industries and farms should be operated directly by the administration and not by private contractors.

(2) Where prisoners are employed in work not controlled by the administration, they shall always be under the supervision of the institution's personnel. Unless the work is for other departments of the government the full normal wages for such work shall be paid to the administration by the persons to whom the labour is supplied, account being taken of the output of the prisoners.

74. (1) The precautions laid down to protect the safety and health of free workmen shall be equally observed in institutions.

(2) Provision shall be made to indemnify prisoners against industrial injury, including occupational disease, on terms not less favourable than those extended by law to free workmen.

75. (1) The maximum daily and weekly working hours of the prisoners shall be fixed by law or by administrative regulation, taking into account local rules or custom in regard to the employment of free workmen.

(2) The hours so fixed shall leave one rest day a week and sufficient time for education and other activities required as part of the treatment and rehabilitation of the prisoners.

76. (1) There shall be a system of equitable remuneration of the work of prisoners.

(2) Under the system prisoners shall be allowed to spend at least a part of their earnings on approved articles for their own use and to send a part of their earnings to their family.

(3) The system should also provide that a part of the earnings should be set aside by the administration so as to constitute a savings fund to be handed over to the prisoner on his release.

Education and recreation

77. (1) Provision shall be made for the further education of all prisoners capable of profiting thereby, including religious instruction in the countries where this is possible. The education of illiterates and young prisoners shall be compulsory and special attention shall be paid to it by the administration.

(2) So far as practicable, the education of prisoners shall be integrated with the educational system of the country so that after their release they may continue their education without difficulty.

78. Recreational and cultural activities shall be provided in all institutions for the benefit of the mental and physical health of prisoners.

Social relations and after-care

79. Special attention shall be paid to the maintenance and improvement of such relations between a prisoner and his family as are desirable in the best interests of both.

80. From the beginning of a prisoner's sentence consideration shall be given to his future after release and he shall be encouraged and assisted to maintain or establish such relations with persons or agencies outside the institution as may promote the best interests of his family and his own social rehabilitation.

81. (1) Services and agencies, governmental or otherwise, which assist released prisoners to re-establish themselves in society shall ensure, so far as is possible and necessary, that released prisoners be provided with appropriate documents and identification papers, have suitable s and work to go to, are suitably and adequately clothed having regard to the climate and season, and have sufficient means to reach their destination and maintain themselves in the period immediately following their release.

(2) The approved representatives of such agencies shall have all necessary access to the institution and to prisoners and shall be taken into consultation as to the future of a prisoner from the beginning of his sentence.

(3) It is desirable that the activities of such agencies shall be centralized or co-ordinated as far as possible in order to secure the best use of their efforts.

B. Insane and mentally abnormal prisoners

82. (1) Persons who are found to be insane shall not be detained in prisons and arrangements shall be made to remove them to mental institutions as soon as possible.

(2) Prisoners who suffer from other mental diseases or abnormalities shall be observed and treated in specialized institutions under medical management.

(3) During their stay in a prison, such prisoners shall be placed under the special supervision of a medical officer.

(4) The medical or psychiatric service of the penal institutions shall provide for the psychiatric treatment of all other prisoners who are in need of such treatment.

83. It is desirable that steps should be taken, by arrangement with the appropriate agencies, to ensure if necessary the continuation of psychiatric treatment after release and the provision of social-psychiatric after-care.

C. Prisoners under arrest or awaiting trial

84. (1) Persons arrested or imprisoned by reason of a criminal charge against them, who are detained either in police custody or in prison custody (jail) but have not yet been tried and sentenced, will be referred to as "untried prisoners" hereinafter in these rules.

(2) Unconvicted prisoners are presumed to be innocent and shall be treated as such.

(3) Without prejudice to legal rules for the protection of individual liberty or prescribing the procedure to be observed in respect of untried prisoners, these prisoners shall benefit by a special regime which is described in the following rules in its essential requirements only.

85. (1) Untried prisoners shall be kept separate from convicted prisoners.

(2) Young untried prisoners shall be kept separate from adults and shall in principle be detained in separate institutions.

86. Untried prisoners shall sleep singly in separate rooms, with the reservation of different local custom in respect of the climate.

87. Within the limits compatible with the good order of the institution, untried prisoners may, if they so desire, have their food procured at their own expense from the outside, either through the administration or through their family or friends. Otherwise, the administration shall provide their food.

88. (1) An untried prisoner shall be allowed to wear his own clothing if it is clean and suitable.

(2) If he wears prison dress, it shall be different from that supplied to convicted prisoners.

89. An untried prisoner shall always be offered opportunity to work, but shall not be required to work. If he chooses to work, he shall be paid for it.

90. An untried prisoner shall be allowed to procure at his own expense or at the expense of a third party such books, newspapers, writing materials and other means of occupation as are compatible with the interests of the administration of justice and the security and good order of the institution.

91. An untried prisoner shall be allowed to be visited and treated by his own doctor or dentist if there is reasonable ground for his application and he is able to pay any expenses incurred.

92. An untried prisoner shall be allowed to inform immediately his family of his detention and shall be given all reasonable facilities for communicating with his family and friends, and for receiving visits from them, subject only to restrictions and supervision as are necessary in the interests of the administration of justice and of the security and good order of the institution.

93. For the purposes of his defence, an untried prisoner shall be allowed to apply for free legal aid where such aid is available, and to receive visits from his legal adviser with a view to his defence and to prepare and hand to him confidential instructions. For these purposes, he shall if he so desires be supplied with writing material. Interviews between the prisoner and his legal adviser may be within sight but not within the hearing of a police or institution official.

D. Civil prisoners

94. In countries where the law permits imprisonment for debt, or by order of a court under any other non-criminal process, persons so imprisoned shall not be subjected to any greater restriction or severity than is necessary to ensure safe custody and good order. Their treatment shall be not less favourable than that of untried prisoners, with the reservation, however, that they may possibly be required to work.

E. Persons arrested or detained without charge

95. Without prejudice to the provisions of article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, persons arrested or imprisoned without charge shall be accorded the same protection as that accorded under part I and part II, section C. Relevant provisions of part II, section A, shall likewise be applicable where their application may be conducive to the benefit of this special group of persons in custody, provided that no measures shall be taken implying that re-education or rehabilitation is in any way appropriate to persons not convicted of any criminal offence.

Jails in India : An Investigation

By Raman Nanda

(From PUCL Bulletin, Nov 1981)

See alos,
Case Study: Tihar, Delhi
Case Study: Arrah, Bihar
Case Study: Sakchi, Jamshedpur

Any discussion on prisoners in a sympathetic manner evokes a sharp response: "Why should you worry about these people? They are dangerous criminals, murderers and rapists, why complain if they are ill treated ? They deserve it." In the popular mind, prisoners are dangerous criminals and hence deserve no mercy. No wonder the local population of Bhagalpur-and many outside-supported the Bhagalpur blinding.

The notion that prisoners are dangerous criminals assumes that our police is, in the first instance, able to nab the culprits- dacoits, murderers, black marketers, smugglers; that prosecution then does take place; that notwithstanding the delays, criminals are convicted-whether they are rich or poor.

Who are the people in jails ? Are they dangerous criminals, a threat to society ? Our investigations establish that a majority are either under-trials or those picked up for other reasons.

In Tihar Jail, in the capital of India, children are simply kidnapped from the streets and made to do all the menial work; the police who act in liaison with the jail staff do not pick up the rich people's children. Those nabbed are the poor, without a home, who sleep on the pavements or in a public park. The criminal charge against them is vagrancy !

Kuldip Nayar, who spent some time in Tihar Jail during the Emergency, writes: "The slaves were boys between ten and eighteen, employed as 'helpers', and there were scores of them. They cooked, washed uten-sils, cleaned rooms, fetched water and did much back-breaking labour to 'help' those who were paid to do these chores."

They would be woken up before six to prepare morning tea and would be allowed to sleep around 10 at night after scrubbing pots and pans. They were herded into a ward which had no sanitary facilities, but were always well lit all night to enable a sleepy warder to check at a glance if they were all there. The warder explained that whenever the number of prisoners in jails xvent up, the police were asked to bring boys to help with the chores.

One is inclined to believe that Delhi is not an excep-tion. For jails in many places are overcrowded and naturally the jail staff needs "helpers." The slave system in varying degrees may well be prevalent in jails in other states.

Poverty, Vagrancy and ProstitutionAbout inmates in Hissar Jail, Primila Lewis has this to say : "Arrested on a charge of 'awara gardi' under the famous Section 169 of the Indian Penal Code for vagrancy, Piloo…. could not have been more than sixteen-years-old. She stayed with us a few weeks and then got out on bail provided for her by a constable in return for a spell with him as his mistress.

"This we learned was a routine occurrence. Single warders or policemen would offer to stand bail for these feckless young girls knowing that they were orphans and without help, in return for temporary or long term cohabitation."

I was told of a similar instance from Khetri Jail, Rajasthan, where two jailers bailed out a woman and kept her for a week. In Central Jail, Jaipur, my friend heard a woman prisoner refusing bail arranged for her by another woman, a prisoner acting as a go-between, "I know why you want me out of jail." The All Bengal Women's Association report on women prisoners in Presidency Jail, Calcutta, in 1974 highlights similar incidents.

Then there is the story of Meena: "Meena had arri-ved (in Elissar Jail) in a fearful state, unable to walk, her rectum and vaginal area torn and bleeding, and raving like a lunatic. She had been kept in police custody for twenty-two days after her arrest and every day she had been raped by five or six policemen in succession. Practically deranged by this experience, she was then handed over to jail authorities. She screamed and sobbed and threatened to jump on the thanedar or sub-inspector just as he and his cohorts had 'jumped.' The sub-inspector of police shook his head sadly. 'She is mad', he. said, and the jail autho-rities asked no more questions."

Meena's crime-brought from a village in Nepal by a brahmin.. . .left alone... vagabond... She was sentenced to seven days simple imprisonment. So, that was her "simple imprisonment". One may go on and on. The victims invariably are the poor.

Innocent?And then there are the prisoners from Hazaribagh and Jamshedpur jails who Mary Tyler describes: "Nearest to the bars slept Bulkani, old, skinny and asthmatic, a retired colliery worker, in prison without trial for three years already, on a petty theft charge.."

She cites the case of 55-year-old Gulabi : "Together with four other labourers she had been harvesting paddy on a landlord's field, unaware that the ownership of that particular land was disputed by his cousin who promptly had all the labourers, and the man who had employed them, arrested for stealing his paddy. Ironi-cally, the two landowners settled their quarrel and Gulabi's employer was released from jail, while the labourers remained behind bars. Gulabi had been in prison for nearly three years.. . . without once seeing the magistrate."

Mary Tyler goes on: "A child was brought into our care. Her father, a widowed coal miner, had gone on hunger strike outside the colliery manager's office after being redundant. On the fifth day he had been arres-ted and since there was nobody to look after his three-year-old daughter, he had been obliged to bring her to jail with him."

In the Women's Reformatory, Jaipur, as on July 1, 1981, out of a total number of 40 convicts, nine were charged with murder and attempted suicide. Eight of them were fed up with life for various reasons (poverty, fight with in-laws).

Once is not Enough
If you are poor and have once landed in jail-for whatever reason or no reason-the probability of your being back in jail off and on is fairly high. This is the impression I gathered from my talk with some of the under-trials in Jaipur Central Jail. "When you are an undertrial and go to the court every fortnight, the people, policemen everybody watches you.. . . You are a 'criminal'. You will be nabbed again as a suspect when-ever anything goes wrong in your locality. At the police lock-up you will be beaten (if you do not bribe them) to extort a 'confession'."

"These policemen," another undertrial said with anger, "ask you to steal and demand their hafta (share). If you do not have the ill-gotten money, how will you give them? And if you don't, they will throw you in jail. What does one do? Keep away from crime and land in jail? Or, do all the wrongs, give the dogs their share and be a free man outside?"

Often when an undertrial is to be released, the jail authorities hold him and ring up all the police stations if they "need" him There is many an instance of a prisoner released by court and re-arrested at the jail gate itself on some other charge. These tactics have been used consistently against the political acti-vists of all hues in general and the so-called Naxalites in particular.

While some are physically prevented by the police from going to the court, others-and there are reports to this effect-by sheer poverty may not be able to get money to meet the travelling and bail expense. Absence in court..., warrants issued... . back to jail.

The reader might well ask, "You are trying to appeal to our emotions."

Well, yes, for why should one look at things in an emotionless manner ? Figures, however convincing- and I shall cite statistics as also official statements--- tend to hide the intense human misery.

According to the 78th report of the Law Commission as on April 1, 1977, of a total prison population of 1,84,169, as many as 1,01,083 (roughly 55%) were under-trials. For specific jails, some other reports show: Secunderabad Central Jail- 80 per cent under-trials; Surat-78 per cent under-trials; Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya-66 per cent under-trials.

Most under-trials are for petty offences (charges whose veracity itself is quite questionable with the police trying to make a quick-rupee through display of their uniform and 'danda'). Some are charged with murder. In Sikar Jail, for example, there were cases where as many as nine under-trials were charged with one murder. Some of them were not even in the area of the crime. The records also show that children of eight years are charged with murder. For instance, in Rajasthan, for which I have detailed figures, for the four years 1975.79, of the total convicted prisoners every year, over 65 per cent of the convicts had been sentenced to less than a year. Less than 10 per cent of the convicts were sentenced to over ten years impri-sonment. And as K.F. Rustomji, former Inspector General of Police and former member of the Police Commission, writes : "The number of criminal repeaters in India is rather small. The number of dangerous criminals-psychopathic killers, murderers, professional robbers, burglars and compulsive rapists-would be very few."

A further point that hardly needs any statistical corroboration-most of those who are nabbed by the police and are unable to have themselves bailed out are the poor. Those with resources, the big criminals, the smugglers, corrupt politicians, tax evaders are people who are rarely caught. Thus our institutions penalise not the violators of law but the poor-crimes or no crimes.

Life Behind BarsWhat are the conditions in jails? What is the effect of confinement on the human psyche, away from friends and relatives, persistently nagged by fears? Caught in his own complexes, with no one to console him, how does a prisoner live through his years in jail?

Food, Accommodation and Medical TreatmentMost of the jails were built in the nineteenth century or at the turn of this century. They are in a state of disrepair and are overcrowded. The Shah Comini-ssion reports that on the eve of the Emergency, in as many as 15 of the 27 States and Union Territories, the actual population of the prisoners far exceeded the authorised accommodation. In Assam there were 7909 prisoners in accommodation meant for 4,930; Bihar- 38,407 as against 21,140; Madhyn Pradesh-16,66 as against 12,388; Orissa-l0,222 as against 6,668; Maha-rashtra-19,786 as against 14,801; West Bengal-25,999 as against 20,237; Delhi 2,699 as against 1,273. And with the imposition of Emergency thousands more were added.

The food served to the prisoners is unfit for consu-mption. According to a report of Seraikela Jail in Bihar in Economic and Political Weekly, July 1978, "Due to overcrowding, a number of prisoners have to spend the nights actually sitting up. The prisoners are invariably very poor people; but the food is so rotten that they find it revolting…..Quite often the prisoners are ordered to lap up the dal which overflows on to the floor. For vegetable the prisoners are fed with wild grass and roots.... A glass of water was found to have no less than one inch of mud at the bottom... . For 400 to 800 prisoners, there are just eight latrines. The prisoners therefore defecate at the drains. In winter, six of them have to huddle under one blanket. Tuber-cular prisoners sleep with the as yet un-diseased ones."

Within a state, the situation may be different in different jails. For instance, in Rajasthan, satisfactory conditions prevail in Sikar Jail. The Jailor, a cons-cientious young man, has allowed the prisoners to form a panchayat which supervises the purchase and preparation of food. Not only are the prisoners satis-fied about the arrangement, they decided to donate one meal each to the flood affected victims in Rajasthan in July, 1981.

However, the situation was quite bad in Jaipur jail and worse still in Central Jail, Ajmer and sub-jail, Jhunjhunu. In Jhunjhunu, where there was incidentally no shortage of water, the jailor sanctioned half a bucket of water per week per person for washing and bathing. There was overcrowding, food was bad and inmates suffered from all sorts of skin diseases. If any one complained, he was beaten up. (Police firing in Samastipur Jail in January 1981, on prisoners protesting against bad food is just one example. In Ajmer Jail, Rajasthan, on the basis of a secret letter from prisoners, the ADM, Ajmer, conducted a surprise raid in the jail in December, 1980, and found 83 quintals of wheat buried in the jail compound. He also sealed the sand over which in des-peration, the jail authorities had dumped edible oil. The prisoners went on hunger strike. The DIG, Prisons. Rajasthan assured prisoners of an inquiry. The result? The prisoners who had pointed out the misdeeds have been transferred to different jails in Rajasthan. One of them was beaten so much that his arm has been fractured.)

Medical facilities-however meager-are available only in some central jails in each state. In district and sub-jails, (asterisk) a compounder or some registered medical practitioner is supposed to visit at regular intervals; the visits never materialize.

"Natural" DeathsNo wonder then that many prisoners die a "natural death" due to diseases which are otherwise minor and curable. In Seraikela Jail which has a capa-city of 82 and which was being used to keep 400 to 800 prisoners, "143 prisoners, mostly adivasi under-trials died between 1973 and 1975". Bhabani Shanker Hoota, a political activist, who spend some time in Rourkela Special Jail, Orissa, during Emergency, tells us of two doaths in judicial custody "due to the combined negli-gence of hospital and jail staff." Similar are the comp-laints from Central Jail, Jaipur. Here I came across, among other serious cases, a undertrial, a man of 22, who was sent from Karoli to Central Jail, Jaipur "for treatment". His right arm was fractured. Not only was the bone exposed, but about an inch of it was jutting out. And what was worse, he had been in that state for over 20 days when I met him. He had been going to the jail doctor everyday and the doctor dutifully applied a yellow medicine and bandaged it. Why was he not sent to the city hospital ? "No police guard to accompany him to the hospital," was the reply. (However, three days after my visit he was sent to the hospital and was operated upon.) In Karnataka, Snehlata Reddy, a serious chronic asthma patient, was denied proper medical treatment. She was refused parole in spite of the doctor's recommendation and died with-in a week of her release.

Divide and Rule
Jails, overcrowded with prisoners and commonly understaffed, are run on the policy of 'divide and rule'. The Jail Manual provides that from amongst the con-victs the authorities shall appoint "convict officers" (COs). They are supposed to be some sort of prefects for the inmates, but actually are the extra-institutional force of the jail authorities. The Convict Officer is a prized position, for it entitles a remission in jail sentence. These prisoners obtain better food from the mess and sometimes the "sick diet" (milk, fruit, eggs).

As a research student, when I said that I wanted to meet the prisoners in Central Jail, Jaipur, the authori-ties would call for these C.Os. I realised that they were viewed with hostility by the ordinary prisoners. These C.Os. told me that "there are no problems in the jail.. food is good. . medicines are available to sick.. Monday parades are held regularly".

Ordinary prisoners had a different story to tell, of course out of hearing of C.O.s who would invariable try to hang on when an outsider interviewed the prisoner.

On the weekly parades, which are held once in a month or two, the C.O.s accompany the Superinten-dent along with the Jailor and Warders. The Superin-tendent always moves into the wards with a massive force. If anyone complains, the C.O.s beat up the prisoners at his behest. The disobedient prisoners, those who 'instigate' the others, are handled by C.O.s and the jail staff together. "Those who demand better conditions and are rather persistent, are taken to the drama hall-meant for recreational and cultu-ral activities-tied to the pillar and beaten up by these people".

The substantial portion of the "income" of the jail authorities is obtained through the C.O.s who are in direct touch with the ordinary prisoners. They charge the prisoners for putting in a word to the authorities for getting them remission in jail sentence or allowing the prisoner to have "illegal" articles in the jail (ghee, charas, or hasheesh). Often the promotion of a prisoner from an ordinary convict to convict night watchman or convict officer is through bribing the jail authorities. Most prisoners live in an atmosphere of fear and suspicion. Though suffering is common to all, one does not see a sense of unity among them.

Loneliness and FrustrationTheirs is a closed existence; visits from friends and relatives are few and far between for most prisoners. Many of them have not had a visit for years together. Poor as their friends and relatives are, they find it difficult to bear the transportation expenses to visit their kith and kin in jail. Further, they are made to wait for hours at the jail gate; in many jails the gate-keeper asks for a bribe.

Then there are sexual perversions of all sorts. Homosexuality is widely prevalent. The jail authori-ties turn a blind eye to this. When a young boy enters, the prisoners have been known to have bid a price for the boy. The price offered is in terms of 'bidis', soap or charas. Often prisoners have been divided into camps and the groups have fought each other on the issue of who shall have the new entrant.

Gross DiscriminationThe stories of the comforts and favours given to some of the alleged criminals, like Charles Sobhraj are well known. Santosh Rana writes about Presidency Jail, Calcutta, during the Emergency: "Some smugglers were there. They never ate jail food. Food reached them from their houses everyday. Some had the privilege of going out to their houses at night and coming back in the early morning". And you do not have to be a smuggler or a kingpin to enjoy extra benefits. In Delhi jail, as those who have been there will tell you, you could have whatever food you wanted, only by paying a higher price. In Jaipur Jail, some prisoners from well-to-do families and undergoing life sentence have no problems in going out. On the pretext of going out to the city hospital "for treatment" they go to their homes with or without the police guard, returning to the jail gate by evening.

While these people get police escort "to go to hospital", those who are genuinely sick and in need of treatment but resource-less are, usually not sent to the hospital. The plea of the jail authorities- "The police does not send us the guards".

What is worse is that even the law of the land allows for discriminatory treatment. Some states classify prisoners as being in 'A', 'B' or 'C' class on the basis of their income or social status. The Shah Commission Report shows that even amongst MISA detenus, there was discriminatory treatment in almost all states.

I shall quote from the Shah Commission Report the part which deals with MISA detainees in Gujarat which holds for other states too with some variations. "The detaining authorities were autho-rised to classify the prisoners according to their discretion. However in April 1976, the Government issued certain guidelines treating Members of Parlia-ment, Members of Legislative Assembly, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Chairman of Committees or Corpo-ration/President and Vice-President/Chairman of Committee of District and Taluka Panchayat as Class I prisoners. As a result of the petition filed by some of the detainees, the Government gave an assurance to the- High Court to examine the case of each detainee separately and further clarified on October 26, 1976 that engineers, doctors, lawyers and persons paying income tax over a period of 10 years of not less than Rs. 5000 a year, who had been detained for political activities and Presidents of Municipalities, would be given Class I status. Businessmen paying income tax of not less than Rs. 5000 a year were also given Class I status..

The treatment meted out to those arrested in the late 1960s and early 1970's under the pretext of their being "Naxalites" breaks even those standards set by jail authorities themselves. Thousands still lang-uish in prisons without trial. After intensive efforts by civil liberties groups and many petitions to the Supreme Court some have been released in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. We just need to mention one ex-ample, that of Nagbhushan Patnaik, to exemplify the physical and mental deterioration that is the result of the brutal administration treatment in our jails.

Our judicial and penal system in its actual working obviously discriminates between the rich and the poor. In this scheme of thing what can be the case for prison reform?

Reforming the Reformatories
Let us outline some of the contours of the problem:

Imprisonment of an overwhelming number of under-trials-many of them being held in custody for long periods.
Lack of accommodation-overcrowding, bad food and an almost complete absence of medical faci-lities.
While hardened criminals are very few, severe restrictions are placed on almost all prisoners. The whole approach is retributive rather than reformative.
Prisoners demanding better treatment for them-selves have received lathis and bullets.
Rampant corruption in jail administration. One must note that the wage scale of the jail staff is also very low.
Lack of resources for jail administration, as one can infer from the low allocation for jails in the state and Central budgets.
Not all violators of law are penalised: it is the poor and quite often the innocent who are victi-mised.
The prisoners are denied "natural habitat" which we try to provide even to the animals we cage in our zoos. This coupled with the hopeless condi-tions in jails affects them irreversibly.

Many would ask: "Courts take a long time to decide and we cannot afford to release the murderers and potential criminals". As already mentioned many of them are not criminals. We need only to recall that following Supreme Court orders, the Bihar Government in 1979 released about 27,000 under-trials and there was no noticeable increase in crime.

Secondly, our prison environments are unnatural and inhuman. Along with other aspects of prison life, this leads to serious psychological disorders and even insanity. The conditions, in fact, "mature" petty thieves into hardened criminals. The "habitat" the prison must be changed. One possibility is the open camp system.

The open camp experiment is. being successfully carried out in Rajasthan. In Sampurnanand Open Camp, Sanganer, 50 to 60 convicts -all murderers- live with their families. There are no boundary walls, no fences with only four policemen as guards. The convicts are free to pursue any vocation they choose. I met one 'prisoner" at a tea stall-which is run by him; another one was working on a government farm and also doing his own farming on one acre piece of land from the government; yet another, a registered medical practitioner had set up a clinic in the town. The prisoners who are eligible for the open camp must have completed 1/3 of their sentence in what can be described as the closed jail.

"The open camp", says the Inspector General of Police, Rajasthan, "does not cost us much. We have constructed the houses. We have given them some land. They earn their own living. And what is the best thing about the camp is that there has hardly been any instance of escape in the past five years. I may add that to be chosen for open camp, prisoners have to sometimes bribe their way through. The idea in itself is very good, is workable and should be extended all over."

Thirdly, there is no internal mechanism to check the functioning of the jails today, which remain oppressive and cruel. Suggestions like employing jail staff of high character, or the strict implementation of the jail manual do not work. One section that can doggedly keep a close watch on the prisoners' plight and make efforts to right the wrongs is the prisoners themselves. They must have the right to assemble and organise into panchayats. Their representatives must be involved in decisions regarding food and maintenance.

Fourthly, the supervision of the administration by the prisoners can be effective only when the rights of prisoners are spelt out. The eight jail manuals that I could collect-all of them, based on the Prisons' Act, 1894-contained detailed instructions on petty things like the width of the belt to be worn by the staff, the number of holes per square inch on the gauge to seive flour but there was not a single chapter on the rights of the prisoners. While there is a need for a jail manual incorporating reformative approach as against the old manual drafted by colonial rulers primarily with a view to punish and suppress political activities, particular attention should be given to clearly defining the rights of prisoners. These rights must be enforceable in courts.

Fifthly, if the rights of prisoners, as proposed, are to be implemented, provisions must be made so that the jail staff do not violate them. These can be checked by the prisoners only if they have the right to communicate such instances to the judiciary and civil liberties groups freely and fearlessly. The prisoners must, therefore, have the right to mail out letters without any censorship by the jail authorities. Systematic efforts to involve the public and raise their awareness on these issues mtist be made simultaneously.

And lastly, what needs urgent attention and action is the question of bias in the operation of our police, judiciary and judicial custody against the underprivileged and poor. Notwithstanding any amount of prison reform, this bias will continue as long as there is gross inequality and discrimination.

JUDGEs or Brokers of Justice ?

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/judges-or-brokers-of-justice ,

Parappana Agrahara Central Jail raided

A surprise raid was conducted inside the Parappana Agrahara Central Jail on Saturday afternoon. A team, headed by a senior police officer, raided the prison canteen and some prisoners’ cells.

According to the jail officials, the raid was conducted at 12.30 pm and the search team found over Rs 2,500 in cash and some things which were prohibited in side the canteen. They also recovered some items such as expensive Basmati rice, sugar, mobile phone sets and several varieties of vegetables. The officials also said that canteen staff were selling cosmetic items like perfumes and luxury soaps to the prisoners.

According to the jail sources, the state government has proposed the installation of 3G jammers in Central jails of Mysore, Bangalore, Belgaum and Bellary some equipment have been already brought to Parappana Agrahara Jail.

Nearly 19 3G jammers will be fixed inside the jail and the installation work is in under progress.

VIPs bribe their way in prison too

VIPS LODGED in Tihar jail have started to feel at home now. Officials said not one of the high-profile inmates in Tihar has complained about the facilities or the food inside the jail. Authorities seem to be taking special care of them. All at a price.

Tihar’s jail number 4, considered by inmates as the ‘jail for the kids’ has never seen a VIP inmate of the stature of Commonwealth Games Organising Committee’s former chairman Suresh Kalmadi. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP Kanimozhi, accused in the 2G case, on the other hand, is getting the VIP treatment by default.

“Higher-ups have ordered that she be given special treatment”. Sources in the jail said the VIPs in the various jails, especially Kalmadi, are being provided facilities like no other VIP inmate has ever been provided.

The food prepared in jail number 4 is of a much better quality as compared with other jails.

Two young assistants have been ‘hired’ for Kalmadi from among the inmates. Their job is to keep his 10x12 feet cell spic and span, make sure he gets food and water of good quality on time, and take care of other errands.

“They are paid good money by Kalmadi for the daily work they do. He makes sure (through policemen) that they get jail coupons of a good amount regularly and that their family members who visit them get some money,” a source said.

People who have served terms in Tihar say money can help get anything done inside the jails. “Bribery is the safest bet inside the jail. Money can help you hire domestic helps, get home-cooked food, and make sure you are treated nicely by the authorities. It is a different world inside,” says Iftikhar Gilani, a journalist who works with FW.

Gilani served time in jail after the Special Cell of the Delhi police wrongly arrested him under the Official Secrets Act in 2002.

Kalmadi’s trusted aides Lalit Bhanot and VK Verma are lodged in the jail number 3. They too are getting the special treatment, “but not as much as Kalmadi.”

Jail 3 is considered as a grade-II jail, while jail 4, where most inmates are below 25 and are not hardened criminals, is considered a better one.

It was the lack of enough space that forced authorities to lodge Kalmadi’s aides in the grade-II sections of the jail.

Accused in 2G case — Unitech Wireless Managing Director Sanjay Chandra, DB Realty and Swan Telecom MD Vinod Goenka and Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group’s Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair — are all lodged in the ward number 4 of jail 3. Main accused A Raja, Shahid Balwa and Siddharth Behura are in jail number 1 and they are better off.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Kanimozhi is lodged in the jail number 6. Her cell is kept cleaner and she is served special food everyday. She also enjoys all help for free. “Even the food is served to her by inmates who have been ordered to manage her needs,” says a source.

The five corporate bigwigs accused in the 2G scam along with Bhanot and Verma have together formed a group which pays well and gets work done as per their demands. And nobody is complaining since the special ‘support staff’ provided to these bigwigs share the earnings with others.

“It is a simple give and take business inside the jail. People who help rich inmates smuggle cash inside and manage the helpers who do their work get the lion’s share of the payments,” says Gilani.

All the inmates are provided newspapers, magazines, and other journals that they ask for.

The food served inside the jails for most inmates consists of a few dry chapatis, some sabzi, dal and rice. The jail is considered the best place to lose weight since the food served is generally prepared badly, has low nutrition levels and is mostly not even enough for most.

None of the VIPs, however, have lost weight, sources say. Food served to them is prepared separately by a team of inmates working in the kitchens under directions from the support staff.

Little wonder that nobody is complaining.

Sanjay Dutt out of jail 40% of time, Bombay HC asks why he is so special

On March 21, when Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt is due to return to Yerawada Central Jail, he would have spent 118 of his 305 days of imprisonment — almost 40 per cent of the time he is supposed to serve — either on furlough for the treatment of his leg pain, or on parole sought citing his wife Manyata’s illness.

This apparent leniency of the state government came under the scanner of the Bombay High Court Tuesday which told authorities that the general outcry among people is that the diligence shown in granting Dutt’s requests is not seen in cases of other convicts.

To address this, the court said it was high time the rules for such relief were looked into, and that there was a need for making “radical changes” in the Prisons (Bombay Furlough and Parole) Rules, 1959.

The court directed the state government to constitute a committee comprising bureaucrats of the home department, representatives from jail administration, and other competent officials for suggesting amendments in the rules for granting parole and furlough to prisoners.

“The state government has been granted four weeks’ time to carry out the exercise. Considering the large number of absconding prisoners, proper care has to be taken in modifying the rules,” the court said as it heard a PIL on the matter.

Dutt’s conviction for possession of arms in connection with the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case was upheld by the Supreme Court in March last year and he was lodged in Yerawada in May to serve the rest of his five-year sentence as he had spent 18 months in custody earlier.

In the last week of September, he was granted a 14-day furlough which he had sought to treat his leg pain. This was extended for another 14 days.

In December, he was granted parole, which was extended once in January. Dutt again applied to the divisional commissioner asking for another one-month extension and this was granted a week back.

“On March 21, when Dutt comes back, he would have spent 118 days out of jail from the 305 days from May last year. He can again apply for furlough and parole from May this year, which we think he will. Of these 118 days, 14 days of the extended parole will not be counted in his sentence and he will have to serve it later,” said a senior prisons department officer.

“Several other inmates, including those serving for even very serious crimes, are granted paroles and subsequent extensions. It’s just that his case has attracted attention as he is a celebrity,” the officer said.

Rajendra Dhamane, DIG in the prisons department, too defended the decision. “The paroles are granted by the divisional commissioner. All procedures have been followed from our side in granting the furlough,” he said.

But a PIL has questioned the discretion used by authorities

Editorial : AEROPLANE RIDES FOR CORRUPT POLICE & CORRUPT JUDGES OF INDIA

TORTURE CHAMBERS OF INDIA - 3RD DEGREE TORTURE PERPETRATED BY POLICE IN INDIA - Gross violations of human rights by police

Aeroplane is the most cruelest form of 3^rd degree torture perpetrated by police on suspects. Many innocent people have confessed to crimes hey have not at all committed unable to bear the torture , pain. Many innocents have been murdered in lock-ups by police during these type of 3^rd degree torture. Even if we go by the logic of police that criminals only sing under torture & they rightly deserve it , when a petty criminal stealing Rs.10000 is fit for “AEROPLANE TORTURE” , what about criminals stealing crores of rupees , what about corrupt police who aid tens of such big time criminals by filing B-report , by putting weak case of prosecution , by delaying tactics allowing for destruction of evidences , etc , what about judges who acquits big time criminals , who give judicial orders while they are in a drunken state , who acquit big criminals by conducting hearings even on dates of government holidays (concocted). ARE NOT THESE CORRUPT POLICE & JUDGES FIT FOR “BUSINESS CLASS AEROPLANE RIDE TORTURE as per the same logic of police.

At the outset , e - Voice salutes the few honest police personnel who are
silently doing their duties inspite of pressures , harassment by
political bosses & corrupt superiors , inspite of frequent transfers ,
promotion holdups , etc. overcoming the lure of bribe ,those few are
silently doing their duties without any publicity or fanfare. we salute
them & pay our respects to them and hereby appeal to those few honest
to catch their corrupt colleagues.

The police are trained , to crack open the cases of crimes by just
holding onto a thread of clue. Based on that clue they investigate like
"Sherlock holmes" and apprehend the real criminals. nowadays , when
police are under various pressures , stresses - they are frequently
using 3rd degree torture methods on innocents. Mainly there are 3
reasons for this :
1) when the investigating officer (I.O) lacks the brains of Sherlock
holmes , to cover-up his own inefficiency he uses 3rd degree torture on
innocents.
2) When the I.O is biased towards rich , powerful crooks , to frame
innocents & to extract false confessions from them , 3rd degree torture
is used on innocents.
3) When the I.O is properly doing the investigations , but the
higher-ups need very quick results - under work stress I.O uses 3rd
degree torture on innocents.

Nowhere in statuette books , police are legally authorized to punish
let alone torture the detainees / arrested / accussed / suspects. Only
the judiciary has the right to punish the guilty not the police. Even
the judiciary doesn't have the right to punish the accussed /
suspects , then how come police are using 3rd degree torture unabetted.
Even during encounters , police only have the legal right , authority
to immobilize the opponents so as to arrest them but not to kill them.

There is a reasoning among some sections of society & police that use
of 3RD DEGREE TORTURE by police is a detterent of crimes. It is false
& biased. Take for instance there are numerous scams involving 100's
of crores of public money - like stock scam , fodder scam , etc
involving rich businessmen , VVIP crooks. Why don't police use 3rd
degree torture against such rich crooks and recover crores of public
money where as the police use 3rd degree torture against a
pick-pocketer to recover hundred rupees stolen ? double standards by
police.

In media we have seen numerous cases of corrupt police officials in
league with criminals. For the sake of bribe , such police officials
bury cases , destroy evidences , go slow , frame innocents , murder
innocents in the name of encounter , etc. why don't police use 3rd
degree torture against their corrupt colleagues who are aiding
criminals , anti nationals ? double standards by police.

All the bravery of police is shown before poor , innocents , tribals ,
dalits , before them police give the pose of heroes. Whereas , before
rich , VVIP crooks , they are zeroes. They are simply like scarecrows
before rich crooks.

Torture in any form by anybody is inhuman & illegal. For the purpose of
investigations police have scientific investigative tools like
polygraph, brain mapping , lie detector , etc. these scientific tools
must be used against rich crooks & petty criminals without bias.

Hereby we urge the GOI & all state governments :
1) to book cases of murder against police personnel who use 3rd degree
torture on detainees and kill detainees in the name of encounter
killings.
2) To dismiss such inhuman , cruel personnel from police service and to
forfeit all monetary benefits due to them like gratuity , pension ,
etc.
3) To pay such forfeited amount together with matching government
contribution as compensation to family of the victim's of 3rd degree
torture & encounter killings.
4) To review , all cases where false confessions were extracted from
innocents by 3rd degree torture.
5) To make liable the executive magistrate of the area , in whose
jurisdiction torture is perpetrated by police on innocents.
6) To make it incumbent on all judicial magistrates ,to provide a
torture free climate to all parties , witnesses in cases before his
court.
7) To make public the amount & source of ransom money paid to forest
brigand veerappan to secure the release of matinee idol mr. raj kumar.
8) To make public justice A.J.Sadashiva's report on "torture of
tribals , human rights violations by Karnataka police in M.M.HILLS ,
KARNATAKA".
9) To make it mandatory for police to use scientific tools of
investigations like brain mapping , polygraph , etc without bias
against suspects rich or poor.
10) To include human rights education in preliminary & refresher
training of police personnel.
11) To recruit persons on merit to police force who have aptitude &
knack for investigations.
12) To insulate police from interference from politicians & superiors.
13) To make police force answerable to a neutral apex body instead of
political bosses. Such body must be empowered to deal with all service
matters of police.
14) The political bosses & the society must treat police in a humane
manner and must know that they too have practical limitations. Then on
a reciprocal basis , police will also treat others humanely.
15) The police must be relieved fully from the sentry duties of biggies
& must be put on detective , investigative works.

Nowadays , we are seeing reports of corruption by police & judges in the media
and are also seeing reports of raids by vigilance authorities seizing crores of
wealth from such corrupt police. Some Judges have also amassed crores of wealth.
Who gives them money ? it is rich criminals , anti-nationals . By taking bribe &
hiding the crimes of criminals , the corrupt police & judges are themselves
becoming active parties in the crimes , anti-national activities. Those
shameless , corrupt police & judges are nothing but traitors & anti – nationals
themselves. When an innocent is subjected to 3rd degree torture to extract truth
with justification by investigating agencies that all for the sake of national
security , what degree of torture these corrupt , anti-national police & judges
qualify for ? what type of aeroplane or helicopter the corrupt police / judges
must ride ? ofcourse , for protection of national security. Here also police &
judges have double standards , what a shame.

We at e – voice are for "Rule of Law" & abhor all type of violence. Truly these
police & judges are not building a Ram Rajya of our Mahatma Gandhi's dream.

Jai Hind. Vande Mataram.

Your's sincerely,

Nagaraj.M.R.

CRIMINALS IN POLICE UNIFORM
- An appeal to union home minister & Karnataka state home minister
The ABC of police force in India is apathy ,
brutality & corruption . in India, police are not impartially enforcing
law instead are working as hand maidens of rich & mighty. The corrupt
police officers are collecting protection money from criminals ,
collecting money to go slow on investigations , to file B- reports , to
fix innocents in fake cases , to murder innocents in lock-up /
encounters . they are hand in league with land mafia , today C.M of
Karnataka himself issued a warning to police officials about this.
Even in lock-ups , jails, the rich inmates bribe
officials get better food from outside , mobile phones , drugs , drinks
, cigareetes , etc. they get spacious cells & get best private medical
care . where as the poor inmates are even denied food , health care ,
living space as per the provisions of law. The corrupt jail officials
instigate rowdy elements in the jails to assault poor inmates & to toe
their line. More corrupt the police more wealthier he is. Even CBI
officials are no different. The only beacon of hope is still there are
few honest people left in the police force.
Hereby , e-voice urges you to make public the following
information in the interest of justice.

1.how many CBI officials & Karnataka state police officials are facing
charges of corruption , 3rd degree torture , lock-up/encounter deaths
, rapes , fake cases , etc ?

2.how you are monitoring the ever increasing wealth of corrupt police
officials?

3.how many officials from the ranks of constable to DGP have amassed
illegal wealth?

4.what action you have taken in these cases ? have you got
reinvestigated all the cases handled by tainted police?

5.how many policemen have been awarded death penalty & hanged till
death , for cold blooded murders in the form of lock-up deaths /
encounter deaths ?

6.why DGP of Karnataka is not registering my complaint dt 10/12/2004 ,
subsequent police complaints ?
is it because rich & mighty are involved ?

7.e - voice is ready to bring to book corrupt police officials subject to
conditions, are you ready ?

8.how many police personnel are charged with violations of people's
human rights & fundamental rights ?

9.how many STF police deployed to nab veerappan were themselves
charged with theft of forest wealth?

10.how you are ensuring the safety , health , food , living space of
inmates in jails?

11.how you are ensuring the medical care , health of prisoners in
hospitals & mental asylums?

12.How you are ensuring the safety , health , food , living space of
inmates in juvenile homes ?

TORTURE CHAMBERS OF INDIA

They are our own Gitmos. Where, far away from the eyes of the law, 'enemies of
the state' are made to 'sing'. THE WEEK investigates

By Syed Nazakat

Little Terrorist, as the intelligence sleuths came to call him, turned out to be
a hard nut to crack. No amount of torture would work on 20-year-old Mohammed
Issa, who was picked up from Delhi on February 5, 2006. The Delhi Police
believed that he had a hotline to Lashkar-e-Toiba deputy chief Zaki-ur-Rehman
Lakhwi, who later masterminded the 26/11 attack on Mumbai. At a secret detention
centre in Delhi, the police and intelligence officers tried every single torture
method in their arsenal-from electric shock to sleep deprivation-to make Issa
sing. He stuck to his original line: that he had come from Nepal to visit a
relative in Delhi. Only, they refused believe him.

According to the police, the youth from Uttar Pradesh, who had moved to Nepal in
2000 along with his family after his father, Irfan Ahmed, was accused in a
terrorism case, returned to India to set up Lashkar modules in the national
capital. More than six months after he was picked up, the police announced his
arrest on August 14. He has since been shifted to the Tihar jail. His lawyer
N.D. Pancholi said Issa was kept in illegal custody for months. If not, let the
police say where he was between February 5 and August 15, he challenged.

Issa could have been detained in any of Delhi's joint interrogation centres,
used by the police and intelligence agencies to extract precious information
from the detainees using methods frowned upon by the law. As one top police
officer told THE WEEK in the course of our investigation, these torture chambers
spread across the country are our "precious assets". They are our own little
Guantanamo Bays or Gitmos (where the US tortures terror suspects from
Afghanistan and elsewhere for information).

Not many admit their existence, because doing so could result in human rights
activists knocking at their doors and bad press for the smartly dressed
intelligence men. It is a murky and dangerous world, according to K.S.
Subramanian, Tripura's former director-general of police, who has also served in
the Intelligence Bureau. "Such sites exist and are being used to detain and
interrogate suspected terrorists and it has been going on for a long time," he
told THE WEEK. "Even senior police officers are reluctant to talk about the
system." So are people who have been to these virtual hells that officially do
not exist.

THE WEEK has identified 15 such secret interrogation centres-three each in
Mumbai, Delhi, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir, two in Kolkata and one in Assam.
(One detention centre that is shared by all security and law enforcement
agencies is in Palanpur, Gujarat.) Their locations have been arrived at after
speaking to serving and retired top officers who had helped set up some of these
facilities. Those who have spent time in these places had no idea where they
are. They were taken blindfolded and were allowed no visitors. The only faces
they got to see were those of the interrogators, day in and day out.

The biggest of the three detention centres in Mumbai, the Aarey Colony facility
in Goregaon, has four rooms. The Anti-Terrorism Squad questioned Saeed Khan
(name changed), one of the accused in the Malegaon blasts of September 2006,
here. He was served food at irregular intervals (led to temporary
disorientation) and was denied sleep. Another secret detention centre maintained
in the city by the ATS at Kalachowky has a sound-proof room. Sohail Shaikh,
accused in the July 2006 train bombings, was held here for close to two months.
"He was kept in isolation for days together," said an officer. "He crumbled
after being subjected to hostile sessions. Intentional infliction of suffering
does not always yield immediate results. Sometimes you have to wait for many
days for the detainee to break. It is a tedious process." The smallest of the
three facilities at Chembur has just two rooms.

Parvez Ahmed Radoo, 30, of Baramulla district in Kashmir, was illegally detained
in Delhi for over a month for allegedly trying to plot mass murder in the
national capital on behalf of the Jaish-e-Mohammed. The Delhi Police's
chargesheet says he was arrested from the Azadpur fruit market in Delhi on
October 14, 2006. But according to Parvez's flight itinerary, he travelled from
Srinagar to Delhi on September 12 on SpiceJet flight 850. The flight landed at
Delhi airport at 12.10 p.m. He had to catch another flight at 1.30 p.m.
(SpiceJet flight 217) to Pune, where, according to his parents, he was going to
pursue his Ph.D. But he never boarded the Pune flight as he disappeared from the
Delhi airport.

Parvez wrote an open letter from the Tihar jail, where he is currently held, in
which he said he was arrested from the airport on September 12 and kept in
custody for a month. Apparently, he was first taken to the Lodhi Colony police
station and then to an apartment in Dwarka, where electrodes were attached to
his genitals and power was switched on. (Delhi's secret detention centres are
located at Dwarka in south-west Delhi, the Inter-state Cell of the Crime Branch
in Chanakyapuri in central Delhi, and the Lodhi Colony police station in south
Delhi.)

"After my arrest on September 12, I was taken to Pune, where I was shown
pictures of many Kashmiri boys," Parvez said in the letter. "They wanted me to
identify them. As I didn't know any one of them, they brought me to Delhi again
and threw me into the torture chamber of Lodhi Road [sic] police station. They
took off my clothes and started beating me like an animal, so ruthlessly that my
feet and fingers started bleeding. I was later forced to clean the blood-stained
floor with my underwear. They gave me electric shocks and stretched my legs to
extreme limits, resulting in internal haemorrhage. I started passing blood with
my urine and stool. Later I was shifted to one flat near Delhi airport [he later
identified the place as Dwarka]. From the adjacent flats, voices of crying and
screaming had been coming, indicating presence of other persons being tortured."

Throughout his detention, wrote Parvez, he was asked to lie to his parents that
everything was fine. In the letter he also gave the mobile number from which the
calls were made-9960565152. His family is trying to collect the call site
details of the number to prove his illegal detention.
Delhi-based journalist Iftikhar Geelani, who spent nine days in the Lodhi Colony
police station after his arrest in 2002 on spying charges, is yet to get over
the traumatic experience. "There are lock-ups with such low ceilings that a
person will not be able to stand," he said. "There is an interrogation centre
within the police station where people are brutally tortured with cables, and
some are completely undressed and abused. They also have a facility to raise the
temperature of the cell to a point where it is unbearable and then suddenly
bring it down to freezing cold."

Assistant Commissioner Rajan Bhagat, spokesman for the Delhi Police, denied the
existence of such facilities. "Nobody ever asked me the question [about secret
detention centres]," he said. "We don't operate any such facility in our police
stations."
But Maloy Krishna Dhar, former joint director of the IB, confirmed the existence
of secret detention centres in Delhi and other parts of the country. He was
convinced that detention outside the police station and torture are an
inevitable part of the war on terrorism. "Now I would never dream of doing the
things I did when I was in charge," said Dhar. "But security agencies need such
facilities." Interrogating suspected terrorists at secret detention centres, he
said, is the most effective way to gather intelligence. "If you produce a
suspect before court, he will never give you anything after that," he said. In
other words, once you record the arrest you are within the realm of the law and
you have to acknowledge the rights of the accused-arrested and contend with his
lawyer.

An officer who worked in one of the detention centres admitted that extreme
physical and psychological torture, based loosely on the regime in Guantanamo
Bay, is used to extract information from the detainees. It includes assault on
the senses (pounding the ear with loud and disturbing music) and sleep
deprivation, keeping prisoners naked to degrade and humiliate them, and forcibly
administering drugs through the rectum to further break down their dignity. "The
interrogators isolate key operatives so that the interrogator is the only person
they see each day," he said. "In extreme cases we use pethidine injections. It
will make a person crazy."

Molvi Iqbal from Uttar Pradesh, a suspected member of the
Harkat-ul-Jihadi-Islami who is currently lodged in Tihar, was held at a secret
detention centre for two months according to his relatives. They alleged that
during interrogation a chip was implanted under his skin so that his movements
could be tracked if he tried to escape. "He fears that the chip is still inside
his skin," said one of his relatives. "That has shattered him."

Kolkata has its own Gitmos in Bhabani Bhawan, now the headquarters of the
Criminal Investigation Department, and the Alipore Retreat in Tollygunj, a
bungalow that is said to have 20 rooms. They were bursting at the seams at the
height of the Naxalite movement, but are more or less quiet now. "A large number
of innocent people, as well as suspected terrorists, have disappeared after
being taken to such secret detention centres," said Kirity Roy, a Kolkata-based
human rights lawyer. "Their bodies would later be found, if at all, in the
fields."

That was how militancy was tackled, first in Punjab and then in Kashmir. Today
no secret prison exists in Kashmir officially after the notorious Papa-2
interrogation centre was closed down. But secret torture cells thrive across the
state. The most notorious ones are the Cargo Special Operation Group (SOG) camp
in Haftchinar area in Srinagar and Humhama in Budgam district. Then there are
the joint interrogation centres in Khanabal area of Anantnag district and Talab
Tillo and Poonch areas in Jammu region. Detentions at JICs could last months.
Lawyers in Kashmir have filed 15,000 petitions since 1990 seeking the
whereabouts of the detainees and the charges against them without avail.

The most recent victim of the torture regime was Manzoor Ahmed Beigh, 40, who
was picked by the SOG from Alucha Bagh area in Srinagar on May 18. His family
alleged that he was chained up, hung upside down from the ceiling and ruthlessly
beaten up. He died the same night. Following public outrage, the officer in
charge of the camp was dismissed from the service in June.

Maqbool Sahil, a Srinagar-based photojournalist who was held at Hariniwas
interrogation centre for 15 days, says it is a miracle that he is alive today.
"If you tell them [interrogators] you are innocent, they will torture you so
ruthlessly that you will break down and confess to anything," he says.
Human rights organisations are understandably concerned. Navaz Kotwal,
coordinator of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, said that there should
be an open debate on the illegal detention centres. "The US had a debate on the
Gitmos. Our government should come forward and respond to these allegations,"
she said.

No one wants to compromise the nation's safety, but the torture becomes
unbearable, and questionable, when innocent people like the 14-year-old boy
Irfan suffer (see box on page 30). The security of the country and its people is
important and terrorism should be crushed at all cost. But the largest democracy
in the world should also ensure that human rights are not violated.

Dhar defended the secret prison system, arguing that the successful defence of
the country required that the security establishment be empowered to hold and
interrogate suspected terrorists for as long as necessary and without
restrictions imposed by the legal system. "The primary mission of the agencies
is to save the nation both by overt and covert means from any terrorist threat,"
he said. "But to keep the programme secret is a horrible burden."
with Anupam Dasgupta

Forty secret interrogation cells unveil real face of India [The Nation] 05 Jul,
2009

Worlds oldest democracy United States may have been forced to close Guantanamo
Bay detention centre, but the largest democracy India runs 40 such secret
chambers across the country, where suspects are subjected to extreme
interrogation for months and years.
A leading news magazine The Week in its forthcoming issue, accessed by KT News
Service (KTNS), revealed the horror of torture chambers, far from the eyes of
law.
The investigating team of the magazine identified 15 secret interrogation
centres-three each in Mumbai, Delhi, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir, two in
Kolkatta and one in Assam. Officials admit that there could be more and roughly
put their numbers at 40. In Palanpur region of Gujarat all security agencies
share one detention centre, the magazine report said. It maintained that mostly
suspects were brought blindfolded so they could hardly pinpoint the place,
adding, the only faces they got to see were those of the interrogators.
The magazine quoted Parvez Ahmed Radoo, 30, of Baramulla district, a student in
Pune University, who was illegally detained in Delhi, as saying that he, in his
open letter, from notorious Tihar jail, wrote that electrodes were attached to
his genitals and power was switched on during interrogation in the centre.
A large number of innocent people, as well as suspected terrorists, have
disappeared after being taken to such secret detention centres, said Kirity Roy,
a Kolkata-based human rights lawyer.
The report further said that in Kashmir, there were many interrogation centres
like the Cargo Special Operation Group (SOG) camp in Haftchinar area in Srinagar
and Humhama in Budgam district.
There are the joint interrogation centres in Khanabal area of Islamabad district
and Talab Tillo in Jammu and one in Poonch.
It said that the lawyers in Kashmir had filed 15,000 petitions since 1990
seeking the whereabouts of the detainees and the charges against them without
avail.
The most recent victim of the torture regime was Manzoor Ahmed Beigh, 40, who
was picked by the SOG from Aloochi Bagh area in Srinagar on May 18. His family
said that he was chained up, hung upside down from the ceiling and ruthlessly
beaten up.
He died the same night.
Quoting KS Subramanian, former Director General of Indian police who had also
served in the Intelligence Bureau, the report said that these sites existed and
were being used to detain and interrogate suspects and it had been going on for
a long time.
An officer, who worked in one of the detention centres admitted that extreme
physical and psychological torture, based loosely on the regime in Guantanamo
Bay, was used to extract information from the detainees.
It included assault on the senses like sleep deprivation, keeping prisoners
naked to degrade and humiliate them, and forcibly administering drugs through
the rectum to further break down their dignity.

In India, Torture by Police Is Frequent and Often Deadly

By Rama Lakshmi
MEERUT, India -- Rajeev Sharma, a young electrician, was sleeping when police
barged into his house a month ago and dragged him out of bed on suspicion of a
burglary in the neighborhood, his family recalled.

When his young wife and brother protested, the police, who did not show them an
arrest warrant, said they were taking Sharma to the police station for "routine
questioning."

"Little did we know that we would lose him forever," said Sunil Sharma, Rajeev's
brother, recounting how he died while in police custody. "Their routine
questioning proved fatal," he added, sitting beside his brother's grieving
widow.

Rajeev Sharma, 28, died at the police station within a day of his detention.
Police said he committed suicide, but his family charges that he was beaten and
killed.

The case highlights the frequent use of torture and deadly force at local police
stations in India, a practice decried by human rights activists and the Indian
Supreme Court. A little more than a decade after Parliament established the
National Human Rights Commission to deal with such abuses, police torture
continues unabated, according to human rights groups and the Supreme Court.
According to the latest available government data, there were 1,307 reported
deaths in police and judicial custody in India in 2002.

"India has the highest number of cases of police torture and custodial deaths
among the world's democracies and the weakest law against torture," said Ravi
Nair, who heads the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Center. "The police
often operate in a climate of impunity, where torture is seen as routine police
behavior to extract confessions from small pickpockets to political suspects."
He said that laws governing police functions were framed under British colonial
rule in 1861 "as an oppressive force designed to keep the population under
control."

Police records show that, two weeks before his detention, Rajeev Sharma made a
electrician's service call at the home of a wealthy businessman. On that day,
the man reported that $500 worth of gold jewelry and about $100 in cash were
missing, police said.

After Sharma's detention, his brother called the police station and was told
that Sharma had confessed to the theft, he said. The brother said he and other
family members rushed to the station and were able to see Sharma briefly.

"His eyes were red, his mouth was bleeding and he could hardly walk. They had
beaten him very badly. That was the last glimpse we had," said Sunil Sharma, 35.
"By the evening, the police informed us that he had committed suicide in the
lockup by hanging himself with a blanket. The suicide story is a coverup; my
brother died of police torture."

The death in police custody sparked two days of rioting and protests in Meerut,
about 45 miles from New Delhi, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Angry
residents surrounded and threw stones at the police station, burned police
vehicles and blocked traffic.

Thousands participated in Sharma's funeral procession; protesters demanded an
open inquest by a panel of physicians and the immediate arrests of those
responsible.

Police conducted an autopsy in private, lawyers close to the case said. But
authorities did issue arrest warrants for the man who said he had been robbed
and for six police officers, an apparent reaction to the unusual popular outcry,
family members and lawyers said. The merchant is in jail, alleged to have
participated in beating Sharma, but the police officers apparently have fled,
authorities said.

Although the Indian government signed the international Convention Against
Torture in 1997, it has not ratified the document. Some members of Parliament
have argued against ratification, saying they oppose international scrutiny and
asserting that Indian laws have adequate provisions to prevent torture. Human
rights advocates said Uttar Pradesh ranks highest among Indian states in the
incidence of police torture and custodial deaths.

Some police officers justify the use of torture to extract confessions and
instill fear.

"The police in India are under tremendous pressure, as people need quick
results. So we have to pick up and interrogate a lot of people. Sometimes things
get out of control," said Raghuraj Singh Chauhan, a newly assigned officer at
the station where Rajeev Sharma died. "After all, confessions cannot be
extracted with love. The fear of the police has to be kept alive -- how else
would you reduce crime?" he added, fanning himself with a police file folder.

A senior police officer in Meerut, on condition of anonymity, openly discussed
torture methods with a visiting reporter. One technique, he said, involves a
two-foot-long rubber belt attached to a wooden handle.

"We call this thing samaj sudharak," the officer said, smiling, using the Hindi
phrase for social reformer. "When we hit with this, there are no fractures, no
blood, no major peeling of the skin. It is safe for us, as nothing shows up in
the postmortem report. But the pain is such that the person can only appeal to
God. He will confess to anything."

Last September, in a written ruling in a case of police misconduct, the Supreme
Court criticized the use of torture. "The dehumanizing torture, assault and
death in custody which have assumed alarming proportions raise serious questions
about the credibility of the rule of law and administration of the criminal
justice system," the court said. "The cry for justice becomes louder and
warrants immediate remedial measure."

In addition, the severity of the torture problem is probably worse than
statistics indicate, because victims, fearing reprisals, rarely report cases
against the police, human rights advocates said.

"About 40 percent of custodial torture cases are not even reported. They are
just grateful for God's mercy that they are alive and free," said Pradeep Kumar,
a human rights lawyer who has represented police torture victims in Uttar
Pradesh. "Torture sometimes leads to permanent disability, psychological trauma,
loss of faculties."

The National Human Rights Commission, led by a retired Supreme Court justice,
has faced criticism that it is too dependent on the government and lacks
enforcement power.

"We have not been able to build a human rights culture in the police force,"
said Shankar Sen, a former police officer and an ex-member of the commission.
"It is not only individual aberration but a matter of systemic failure."

The commission has ordered that cameras be installed in police stations to
monitor and deter police brutality.

"In the past year we have spent about $600,000 to equip most of the police
stations in New Delhi with a camera. This will make police functioning
transparent and have a big impact on torture," said Maxwell Pereira, a senior
police official in the capital.

But critics and families of victims said they had not seen changes. In a
much-publicized case in New Delhi last fall, five policemen were charged with
beating and killing Sushil Kumar Nama at a police station.

Nama had been detained on suspicion that he was working with neighborhood
gamblers. Four of the police officers were arrested in April, but one remains at
large, authorities said. Police officials denied that Nama was tortured, saying
he died of a heart attack after he was released from custody.

"My two children are so traumatized that now they run home scared every time
they see a policeman on the street," said Nama's wife, Rekha, 29. "They know
that danger lurks behind that uniform. They are not policemen, they are wolves."

On the wrong side of law

By Geeta Pandey
BBC News, Delhi
Chunchun Kumar

Chunchun Kumar's wound is still raw

For Chunchun Kumar of Bihar's Nawada district, it was just another evening as he
lounged around at a tea stall in his village along with a friend.

But, then something happened that changed his life.

"It was 17 March of this year. There were six of them. When we first saw them,
they were beating up the temple priest. He was lying on the ground, they were
kicking and punching him," Kumar says.

"Then they started hitting two other men. Then they came into the tea shop and
they beat us black and blue. Then they fired at us."

Kumar lifts up his shirt to show a bullet mark on his abdomen. The wound is
still oozing.

The perpetrators were no ordinary criminals.

Says Kumar, "They were all policemen. I don't know why they were angry. They
were all drunk, they were like drunk elephants, they went on a rampage."

The shocked villagers complained to the police authorities, and the offending
policemen were suspended from duty and arrested.

'Very serious'

Additional director general of police in Bihar Anil Sinha confirmed the
incident.

"Two of the policemen who were inebriated vandalised the tea shop and began
firing despite protests from their other colleagues. They were arrested and,
although they have been released on bail, they are facing criminal charges."

Kumar's fight for justice recently brought him to the Indian capital, Delhi,
where he narrated his story at India's first National People's Tribunal on
Torture.

Activists say torture by police is rampant in India.

"The problem of torture is very serious. Today we have around 1.8 million cases
of police torture each year in India," says Henri Tiphagne of People's Watch, an
NGO.

Policemen in India

The police are often a law unto themselves, say campaigners

Mr Tiphagne says the victims mostly are from the poorer sections of society.

"They are generally the (low-caste) Dalits, the tribals and the Muslims. And
torture is used by those who are in power, those who possess, the landlords and
the companies who put pressure on the police to carry out torture," Mr Tiphagne
says.

Mr Anil Sinha says cases of human rights violations involving the police are
"exaggerated" by activists.

"It's a kind of stereotype being dished out by the NGOs and activists. And
because police have a bad reputation, so people take such allegations to be
correct.

"We do not condone any human rights violations by police in any manner, and such
cases are rare. We have a mechanism in place to deal with such cases and
penalise the guilty," Mr Sinha says.

Shankar Sen, a retired police officer and former member of the human rights
commission, says: "The policeman's work is very complex, there are pressure on
him to deliver results, the police are exposed to extraneous influences and
pressures."

But, he says, that does not condone torture. "It's illegal, and as a policeman I
know it doesn't work."

Mr Sen admits that police torture is prevalent. "Torture does take place, it's
very common, but it's unacceptable. Some allegations against the police are
shocking."

Meenakshi Ganguly of Human Rights Watch says nearly every police station in
India can be held guilty of torture.

'Arbiter of justice'

In many parts of the country, she says, the situation is so bad that people will
not got to a police station to file a case fearing prosecution and retribution.

"There is this pattern of impunity. The fact that police believe they can get
away with it has added to the problem," Ms Ganguly says.

"The greater problem is that an average policeman believes himself to be the
arbiter of justice. Instead of going to the court, he himself is delivering
justice.

Arun Kumar with parents PP Raju and Lakshmi

Arun Kumar's mental age has been reduced to one year

"The policeman is not supposed to punish the criminal, he is supposed to catch
the criminal," she says.

For the victims of torture and their families, it is a long haul.

Arun Kumar of the southern city of Bangalore was picked up by the police after
his employer suspected him of having an affair with his wife.

Kumar's parents, PP Raju and Lakshmi, say their family home was ransacked, Kumar
was taken to the police station where he was beaten up and tortured for days.

Unable to bear the pain and the trauma, Kumar drank pesticides in an attempt to
kill himself.

He survived, but his parents say their son's mental age has been reduced to one
year - he is on medication and requires constant care.

The guilty policeman was suspended for a week, but reinstated later. The family
has a long fight ahead of them.

'Deterrence'

Says Mr Tiphagne, "A case I initiated in 1981 ended in 2007 with the dismissal
of the officer. So I have hope in Arun Kumar's case too."

But, he says, this long wait can be a huge deterrence for even the most
determined.

Henri Tiphagne of People's Watch.

Mr Tiphagne says nearly 2 million cases of torture take place in India every
year

"The torture at the police station ends, but the torture of institutions
continues. It's more of a psychological and mental nature, it is very
challenging. Most people don't have the courage to withstand that, very few
survive that," Mr Tiphagne says.

So while the victims continue to live with the trauma, most of the perpetrators
get away.

They are also emboldened by the fact that India has no clear law on torture.

The country signed the UN Convention on Torture in 1997, but even 10 years
later, it has not ratified it.

"We have to change our culture. We have to create awareness that torture is
illegal. The civil society will have to get involved," says Meenakshi Ganguly.

"People will have to get past the fact that torture happens only to other
people. And once that happens, it will change," she says.

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INDIA: No to torture, establish rule of law!
The first Prime Minister of India Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru said "Police is standing
on a quadrilateral from where they can protect and also violate human rights?"
But it seems that his words are of no use in India today since there is an
enormous increase in the incidents of police torture during past few decades.

It is apparent that police is the largest agency constituted with the purpose of
establishing the rule of law and human rights. One can read into the Indian
Penal Code, with certain difficulty, the prohibition against torture. Statements
recorded from witnesses under Section 161 of the Criminal Procedure Code are not
blindly admissible in a criminal trial. If the law is so, the next obvious
question is then why do the police resort to torture?

The main reasons are feudal and colonial structure of police, scarcity of
resources in the police department, political intervention and the lack of an
independent agency to investigate the crimes committed by the police themselves.
Modern investigation is unheard of within the police department. In addition,
India's feudal society condones the use of torture.

The definition of torture as envisaged in the UN Convention Against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment defines torture as an
"act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is
intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a
third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third
person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or
coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any
kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or
with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in
an official capacity."

Section 176 (A) of Cr.P.C. have provisions for the investigation in the each
case of custodial death. However, this section is not used in any case in the
entire Uttar Pradesh state. Neither have any Magistrates issued search warrants
under Section 97 of Cr.P.C. when persons were taken into illegal custody.

The Supreme Court of India had issued guidelines to be followed by
law-enforcement officers at the time of arrest and questioning in the case D.K
Basu vs. West Bengal. It is mandatory for the law-enforcement agencies to
follow, but is been negated in the state. Regarding encounter killings, the
National Human Rights Commission has directed the country's police to register
cases in every case of reported encounter killings. The Commission has also
directed to send it a video of the post-mortem examination in each case of
custodial death. This also is not followed in the state and to the information
of the PVCHR anywhere in the country. The question than is what is the value of
the Supreme Court and the NHRC in the country?

There is a provision for interim relief to be awarded as compensation under
Section 19 of Human Right Act. Article 21 of Indian Constitution guarantees the
right to life with dignity, which is also against torture. But torture
continues unabated in the state. Do laws in the country have any meaning then?

If we look at the statistics, it is mostly the poor, the marginalised, the
Dalits and the members of the minority and backward communities are subjected to
torture. Those who have mafia gangs and known antisocial elements are not
victims of this, cruel practice other than some rare occasions. Only the
ordinary people are afraid of the police and the torture they practice. So does
India have two types of citizens -- the one with rights and those who do not
have them?

Police along with the criminals have established the rule of the lords.
Corruption and discrimination are no more mere practices, but the second nature
of the police. Rule of law can be established without preventing police torture.
Let us come together to enlighten ourselves and fight against torture to stop it
and thus establish rule of law.

What you can do?

1) Protest on 26th June against the practice of torture by street plays,
organising discussions and sending letters to the Prime Minister, and through
press releases in newspapers condemning torture and inform us what you did;
2) Indian Government has signed the UN Convention in 1997 but has failed to
ratify it. Send letters to the Prime Minister and the President of India asking
them to require the government to accede the convention;
3) In protest of the cases of torture happening right under the nose of the
National Human Rights Commission, organise a protest in front of the Commission;
4) Write letters to the editor of publications condemning torture;
5) To sensitize the people about torture and its forms, take down cases that
you come across and send it to us so that we could follow it up on your behalf;
6) Write to the Supreme Court asking why its orders and guidelines are not
followed;
7) Write to the government urging the government to provide resources to the
police to function properly.

Thank you

Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi
Convener - PVCHR
SA 4/2 A, Daulatpur
221002Varanasi
INDIA
Telephone: +91-9935599333
E-mail: pvchr.india@...

Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib... Bagram?
INVESTIGATION: US detention centre under suspicion as eerily familiar claims OF torture and rendition flights surface from the airbase on the outskirts of
Kabul. by Ian Pannell, BBC Afghanistan Correspondent
NOOR HABIB'S hands shake as he draws a picture of how he says he was abused. He
claims that he was taken to a small, darkened cell where his arms were tied to
the ceiling and he was made to stand in waist-deep water for six hours at a
time.

[Mohammad Nasim says he was asked if he knew Osama Bin laden.]Mohammad Nasim
says he was asked if he knew Osama Bin laden.

He says he was beaten, threatened with dogs, and deprived of sleep. He also
claims there was nothing unusual about his treatment, "everyone else has the
same story".

Habib was an inmate at the Bagram Theater Internment Facility, an American
military detention center outside Kabul. Now, for the first time, detailed
allegations of widespread abuse and neglect have been made about this top-secret
camp.

"I didn't think a prison like Bagram ever existed on earth. It is a place that
has no rules or law," says Sabrullah, another ex-inmate.

Over a period of more than two months, we tracked down 27 former detainees.
There were others, but they were afraid to speak or had been warned not to. Just
two said they had been treated well. Many allegations of ill-treatment appear
repeatedly in the interviews; physical abuse, the use of stress positions,
excessive heat or cold, unbearably loud noise, being forced to remove clothes in
front of female soldiers and in four cases, being threatened with death at
gunpoint.

The account of an inmate known as Dr Khandan is one of the most harrowing. He
says he was kept in isolation for months and treated worse than an animal: "They
deprived us of sleep, they put us in a cold room and turned the air conditioning
on and would take away the blanket. They poured cold water on you in winter and
hot water in summer. They used dogs against us. They put a pistol to your head
and threatened you with death. They put some kind of medicine in the water to
make you sleepless and then they would interrogate you."

All the men who spoke to us were interviewed in isolation and they were all
asked the same questions. They were held at times between 2002 and 2008 and they
were all accused of belonging to or helping al-Qaeda or the Taliban.

None of the inmates were charged with any offense or put on trial; some even
received apologies when they were released. While none of the allegations can be
independently verified, the ill-treatment they describe also appears in an
inquiry by US Senators into the handling of detainees in US custody, and they
match the findings of interviews with ex-inmates conducted by human-rights
organizations and legal groups. They are very similar to the methods that were
used at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

"The conditions at Bagram were harder than Guantanamo," says Taj Mohammed. The
camp has held thousands of people over the last eight years and a new
multi-million dollar detention center is currently under construction.

Most of the inmates are Afghans but some were captured abroad and brought here
under a process known as "extraordinary rendition", including at least two
Britons. The Obama administration says they are dangerous men and it classifies
them as "terrorist suspects" and "enemy combatants" rather than "prisoners of
war".

It is a legal classification that critics say deliberately denies inmates access
to lawyers or the right to appeal or even complain about their treatment.

The Pentagon has denied the charges and it insists that all inmates are treated
humanely. We were not allowed to visit Bagram, nor was anyone made available for
an interview. Instead, a spokesman for the US Secretary of Defense responded to
written questions. Lieutenant Colonel Mark Wright insisted that conditions at
Bagram meet international standards for care and custody. In a statement, he
said: "Department of Defense policy is and always has been to treat detainees
humanely. There have been well-documented instances where that policy was not
followed, and service members have been held accountable for their actions."

The US military said it would investigate any serious claims of abuse, but none
of the men interviewed had been made aware of any formal complaints procedure.

But another former inmate, known as Mirwais, said: "They have no respect for
human beings. They blame others for violating human rights. You just go and see
how they violate human rights."

Since coming to office, president Barack Obama has banned the use of torture and
ordered a review of its policy on detainees, which is expected to report next
month. But unlike Guantanamo Bay, the prisoners at Bagram have no access to
lawyers and they cannot challenge their detention.

Tina Foster, executive director of the International Justice Network, a legal
support group which is bringing a test case in the States to try to win
representation for four detainees, says the inmates at Bagram are being kept in
"a legal black hole, without access to lawyers or courts".

She is pursuing legal action that, if successful, would grant detainees the same
rights as those still being held at Guantanamo Bay, but the Obama administration
is trying to block the move.

Last summer, the US Supreme Court ruled that detainees at Guantanamo should be
given legal rights. Speaking on the campaign trail, Obama applauded the ruling:
"The Court's decision is a rejection of the Bush Administration's attempt to
create a legal black hole at Guantanamo. This is an important step toward
re-establishing our credibility as a nation committed to the rule of law, and
rejecting a false choice between fighting terrorism and respecting habeas
corpus."

Foster accuses Obama of abandoning that position and "using the same arguments
as the Bush White House".

In its legal submissions, the US Justice Department argues that because
Afghanistan is an active combat zone it is not possible to conduct rigorous
inquiries into individual cases and that it would divert precious military
resources at a crucial time. Pentagon spokesman Wright says: "Detention during
wartime is not criminal punishment and therefore does not require that
individuals be charged or tried in a court of law."

Obama has also ruled against an earlier decision to release photos that show
abuse of prisoners in US custody in Afghanistan.

Ex-inmate Esmatullah says he has trouble breathing when he thinks about Bagram,
he gets nervous at the very mention of its name. Like many others, he also
claims that he was beaten and threatened during interrogation: "The Afghan
translator told me he has orders to take out my eyes, break my legs and hands. I
said I am not afraid of dying. Then he hit me with a stick so hard that I had
severe pains in my back for a month and a half."

Unlike Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, Bagram has received scant attention so
far. The men would like an official apology, recognition of the abuse they say
they have suffered and compensation.

These revelations come at a time when president Obama is trying to re-set
America's relationship with the Muslim world and he is redoubling US efforts to
win the war in Afghanistan. It is a controversy that has already attracted much
attention in the Afghan and Pakistan media and seriously threatens to tarnish
the image of the new Obama administration on both sides of this troubled border.

INDIA: Structural breakdown of the justice system must be addressed

The reports that appeared yesterday in the Indian media quoting 'informed
sources' that the Tamil Nadu state police has decided not to produce detainees
in courts exposes the extent to which the justice institutions have broken down
in India. According to the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 it is
the statutory duty of the state police to assist the courts in the country for
its day-to-day functioning. It is also mandatory for the police to produce the
detainees remanded to judicial custody before the courts, as and when required
by the courts. Any decision by the police, express or implied, against this
official duty must not go unpunished.

The decision of the Tamil Nadu state police is a wilful dereliction of official
responsibility, negation of judicial supremacy and the very function of the
police in maintaining law and order. The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) and
its sister concern the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) have been
continuously reporting instances suggesting the systematic breakdown of rule of
law in India, particularly concerning the police. The decision by the state
police of Tamil Nadu to disregard the provisions of law, substantiates ALRC's
position that there are apparent and deep-rooted problems affecting the rule of
law in India.

Lawyers engaged in professional misconduct, judges failing to perform duties and
police officers committing crimes, assaulting persons and destroying property
have become the defining characters of the justice dispensation system in the
country. The structural breakdown is apparent. Yet, instead of gearing up to
repair the ruptures, it appears that the government is forcing the people to get
used to the reality.

The approval by the Government of India for recruiting, training and deploying
Salwa Judum, in Chhattisgarh state, in the excuse of countering Naxalite
activities in that state is an example. Salwa Judum is nothing but an armed
mercenary group operating with impunity in Chhattisgarh. The Chhattisgarh state
administration finds it convenient to arm a faction of organised civilians to
fight anti-state movements like the Naxalites. By promoting Salwa Judum, the
state is trying to absolve from its responsibility of maintaining law and order
in its territory.

The Government of India, instead of preventing the Chhattisgarh state
administration from continuing with the deployment of Salwa Judum, insisted yet
another state administration, the Manipur state government, to resort to similar
tactics in 2008. The same practice was implemented years ago in the state of
Jammu and Kashmir during the time of rightwing BJP led government in India.
Neither in Jammu and Kashmir, nor in Chhattisgarh or in Manipur, has the
situation improved since then.

In the past two years, there has been an alarming increase in the number of
extra-judicial executions reported from India. In the Indian context, such
murders are referred to as 'encounter killings'. As of now, there is no legal
framework in the country by which an impartial enquiry and investigation is
possible in a case of encounter killing. The practice is, a superior officer and
later the court, accepts a report sent in by the police involved in the murder
and no further action is initiated. The murder is often rewarded by the
administration, so much so, there are more than three dozen 'encounter
specialists' serving as police officers in various parts of the country.

Impunity for the police to murder and the lack of punishment trivialises the
practice of custodial torture in the country. The practice of torture is
widespread and is accepted as an essential requirement for law enforcement.

On June 15 this year, the Speaker of the Kerala State Legislative Assembly, Mr.
K. Radhakrishnan, declared at the annual conference of police officers of the
state, that the use of third-degree methods by the state police cannot be
condemned. The Speaker during his keynote address argued that it is ridiculous
to insist that the police officers in India respect human rights. According to
him, it is difficult to do policing and respect human rights at the same time.
He made it clear that when the police investigate a crime, it is natural and
often required for the investigating officer to use torture to prove the case.
Among those listening to these remarks were the Director of the State Police
Training College and the Director General of Police.

Breach of law by the law enforcement agencies in the country meets no bounds.
Corruption, nepotism and the disregard to the law flourish within state
agencies, particularly in the police. The society quiver under the writ of fear
when the law enforcement agents commit crimes with impunity. In spite of
repeated and legitimate requests from national and international human rights
groups and the thematic mandates holders of the UN like the Special Rapporteur
on the question of torture, the Government of India has failed to criminalise
the practice of torture or to ratify the Convention against Torture.

In fact, the government has failed in implementing the directives of its own
Supreme Court. The directives of the Supreme Court in the Prakash Singh case are
yet to be implemented in the country. The implementation of the Court's
directives is important for improving the state of policing in India, since half
of the issues concerning the police, including the practice of torture and
participation in crimes by the police officers, are carried out at the behest of
corrupt politicians in the country. Having a law against torture while the
ultimate writ above the police entrusted with a corrupt politician will not
improve policing in India.

It is in this context that the protest called in by the Tamil Nadu state police
becomes relevant in exposing and addressing the situation of rule of law in
India. The very fact that the police can intentionally negate the supremacy of
law shows the vacuum of authority in the country. The incident illuminates the
impunity that the police have enjoyed so far that they have now dared to openly
challenge judicial supremacy.

Instead of actively engaging in the situation, the Tamil Nadu state government
has allowed the police to continue with their follies. The police action on
February 19 inside the compound of Madras High Court that injured police
officers, lawyers, judges, court staff and ordinary persons is not of such
triviality that it could be resolved by a fast declared by the state Chief
Minister. The police-lawyer confrontation and the subsequent sequels of
non-cooperation between three important limbs of the justice dispensation system
of the country is not an issue that can be camouflaged with political gimmicks
and ignored.

The February 19 incident is the clarion call for intervention by a system, which
is left to breakdown and disintegrate. The subsequent protest orchestrated by
the state police refusing cooperation to the functioning of the judiciary is a
failure of the constitutional machinery that require a legitimate intervention
by the Government under Article 356 of the Indian Constitution. The failure of
the Government of India to take affirmative actions to correct and revitalise
its criminal justice system poses legitimate challenges to India's democracy and
the country's position in the UN Human Rights Council.

Edited, printed , published owned by NAGARAJA.M.R. @ # LIG-2 No 761,HUDCO FIRST STAGE ,

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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

Monday, February 2, 2015

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