Bombay HC asks state govt to put police and prison manuals online for social awareness
The Bombay High Court recently directed the state government to consider publishing police and prison manuals on its official websites and said it was important to put out such critical information for the public at large and relatives of the inmates.
The HC was hearing a plea seeking implementation of the Central state's 2022 advisory for terminally ill and the Maharashtra Prisons (Review of Sentences) Rules.
The HC said that social media should be used for propagating information about prison manuals and the public had a right to know what is in the prison manual.
A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Neela K Gokhale was hearing plea by one Arun Bhelke alias Rajan alias Aditya Patil from Pune who was arrested by the state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in September 2014 along his wife Kanchan Nanaware alias Bhoomi alias Sonali Patil, an alleged Maoist operative. After developing terminal-illness, Nanaware's bail plea was rejected by sessions court, however the HC later referred her to a medical board that recommended heart and lung transplant. However, she died in custody in 2021.
Representing Bhelke, senior advocate Gayatri Singh submitted that the documents related to important provisions concerning prison healthcare are not available online and they remain inaccessible to inmates.
The HC raised concerns over health facilities in Maharashtra's jails and sought to know how many medical practitioners are there in jails across state and what the vacancies of doctors were , whether they were qualified and what medicine supply is available and if adequate ambulances are made accessible for inmates.
Advocate Vijay Hiremath also submitted that even the police manual is not available to the public at large and must be made available on the website.
The Court also indicated that it would constitute a committee to review provisions in police and prisons manuals.
Additional Public Prosecutor Prajakta Shinde told the HC that she would take instructions from the concerned department and respond to the court's queries during the next hearing on April 28.
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