Sitarganj open jail inmate Kulwant who had been on hunger-strike demanding the immediate release of inmates who have completed 14 years’ imprisonment, was admitted at a hospital in Haldwani after his condition deteriorated on Sunday night.
His other demand is that those who have spent two - third of their life imprisonment terms (14 years) in jails should be immediately released. Jayant Pangti, a Sitarganj open jail officer, said that Kulwant who was awarded life imprisonment by the court has been staying in the jail for around ten years in connection with a murder case.
He has been sitting on the hunger strike since September 10. When his condition started deteriorating on Sunday night, a team of doctors examined him following which he was admitted at a Haldwani-based hospital.
Pangti said that an inmate going on hunger strike in the jail is breaking the jail rules. “They have to spend an extra year in jail for the same.
We cannot hear out their demand unless they call off their hunger strike,” he said. Furthermore, the jail official made it clear that as per the court’s order, life imprisonment means imprisonment for life, not for some specific years.
“However, the state government may release such inmates after they complete 14 years in jails on grounds of good conduct and health among others,” he said.
He further said that some inmates of Sitarganj jail had been stopped from going for the hunger strike after the jail administration had served them notices. Only one of them Kulwant continued with hunger strike since September 10, he added.
It should be mentioned here that around 90 inmates of Haridwar district jail had staged a hunger strike last week, demanding those having completed 14 years’ imprisonment be released immediately.
later, they had called off their strike to the relief of the jail administration.