A day after Chief Election Commissioner Nassem Zaidi declared that all Punjab jails would be under special surveillance, the Punjab Government on Friday banned jail ‘mulaqaats’ with prisoners three days before the state goes for polls on February 4.
The state Home Department on Friday issued instructions “banning ‘mulaqaats’ with the prisoners in all Central, District and Sub-Jails across the State, three days prior to the polling date of February 4, 2017”.
The instructions came after a meeting of the top State Government officials with the Election Commission of India on Thursday evening.
Additional Chief Secretary (Home) KBS Sidhu said that February 4, having been already declared holiday in the State on account of
polling, would also be covered by this ban.
“In case of any emergency, ‘mulaqaat’ shall be permitted only with the prior approval of Additional Director General of Police (Prisons).
In view of this ban, February 5, that is Sunday, which is otherwise a closed day for ‘mulaqaats’ would operate as normal working day to facilitate the clearing of the backlog.
An official spokesperson said that the State Home Department had frozen the processing as well as implementation of the cases of furlough, temporary release, premature release, remission and pardon etc pertaining to prisoners, in view of the enforcement of the Election Code of Conduct.
Even where the orders of the Competent Authority had been obtained but the same had not been implemented, the same would be held in abeyance till the polling was over.
This order would, however, be subject to an exception where a Competent Judicial Court has passed any specific orders in this behalf, which required a time-bound compliance,said the spokesperson.
The order, it was clarified, would not apply to release orders and bails granted by Competent Judicial Courts.
The official spokesperson stated that comprehensive short term and medium-term plan had been put into action to ensure that the purity of the Election process was not in any way disturbed by unscrupulous persons operating from within and outside the jails in the State.
Zaidi, a day before after his two-day state visit to review poll preparedness, had stated that all state jails would be “under special surveillance” and paramilitary forces could be deployed in jails.
He had stated that dreaded criminals will be isolated from other inmates, besides installation of video cameras with direct link to the control room supervised by the ADGP (Prisons) besides jammers.