Post SC ruling on CCTVs, prisons to urge Govt for infrastructure

Friday’s Supreme Court ruling on installing CCTV cameras in every jail in all the States in order to strengthen the security would help the jail authorities in Uttarakhand that is currently reeling under acute infrastructure and other crunches, so as to pressure the State Government to clear the decks for facilities.

The SC has asked the State Governments also to consider installing CCTVs in police stations and lock-ups to curb the incidents of custodial torture.

“The ruling would definitely auger well for the jails, ill-equipped as they are in view of seasoned and dangerous criminals being lodged in jails of the state. Things need thorough overhauling and for this, the State Government’s will is needed,” said a senior jail official posted in Dehradun.

The Apex Court’s ruling has assumed significance for Uttarakhand as incidents of security breach have been reported in the recent past from Haridwar, Dehradun, Nainital and some other jails.  Some mobile phones purportedly used by the inmates were recovered by administrative officers when they inspected the jails. The recovery saw an unprecedented though timely outcome since some top criminals were supposed to have  chalked out detailed plans to extort money from right inside the jail or to ensure convicts escape from the jails with the help of their cell phones. The gory gang  war involving two groups  of criminals  outside  Roorkee jail in August last year, killing three and in a fresh episode, the daring escapade of the gangster Amit Malik ‘Bhura’  from the police custody in Baghpat still flash in the minds of locals.  

Haridwar Superintendent of Jail Satish Sukhija hailed  the  SC ruling, saying  that  the Haridwar jail, for instance, has only four CCTV cameras installed at various spots, including the entry gate.  Although the jail authorities had earlier sought the Government around 72 additional CCTV cameras to tighten the Jail security, things were kept in the cold storage. Around 1100 inmates are now lodged in Haridwar jail,” he said. He added that along with installing such cameras, technical persons must be posted as well in order to operate and monitor the visuals.

Tehri jail official lakhiram Dobhal said that there is no CCTV camera in Tehri jail. “We have sought 50 such cameras from the State Government. Around 100 prisoners, including two top criminals, have so far been lodged in Tehri jail,” he said.So are the things in Chamoli jail. A jail official Kararaj Singh said that there is no CCTV camera installed in Chamoli jail. They have sought 36 from the State Government, he added.

The case with Pauri jail is identical. A  Pauri jail official said that they have been facing shortage of infrastructure. “Two CCTV cameras have been installed. However, the persons recruited through Uttarakhand Purva Sainik Kalyan Nigan limited (UPNl) can hardly be trusted when it comes to monitoring CCTV visuals. Jails being overcrowded further makes the situation complicated here,” he added. 

As the bench of Justices TS Thakur and R Banumathi has made it clear that CCTVs must be installed in all the jails across the country within two years, the process may take  at least one-year to get started.The issue of the jails being overcrowded and filled with recurring incidences of inside-violence and deaths  seem to have prodded the Apex Court to sit up and suggest remedial measures. Interestingly, the ruling has also urged the State Governments to consider installing CCTVs in all police stations and lock-ups to curb incidents of custodial torture.