The court of Justice Apresh Kumar Singh of Jharkhand High Court on Friday directed Jharkhand government to file a supplementary affidavit over the procedure involved in shifting of former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad from RIMS’s paying ward to Kelly’s bungalow besides other related matters.
The court fixed January 8 as the next date of hearing and directed the State’s attorney to file a detailed reply.
While the court has already gone through the reply made by the State Government; the court sought some clarifications. The court granted time to file detailed replies related to jail manual, standard operational procedure and protocols for prisoners.
The court had asked the government to explain procedures followed in the case of shifting Lalu Prasad from RIMS to Kelly’s bungalow.
The court also asked as to who else were consulted and involved for this process besides what is the process of appointment of Sevadar (attendant) for a prisoner.
Lalu Prasad landed in controversy after an audio clip became viral where he is heard talking to a Bihar BJP MLA over a mobile phone. Lalu Prasad in judicial custody apparently made this call from Kelly bungalow, for which he used the mobile phone of his Sevadar. He was heard asking the MLA to support the RJD led Mahagathbandhan in Bihar in the election of Speaker. Under jail manual prisoners are prohibited to use mobile phones.
The Prisons department in its reply said that due to alarming condition of Covid-19 virus Lalu Prasad was shifted from RIMS paying ward to Kelly bungalow and it was done in consultation with RIMS director, superintendent and Ranchi district administration.
The jail administration contended that Lalu Prasad is under treatment at RIMS adding that since the paying ward and Kelly bungalow were not notified as jail, district administration was responsible for the security.
Meanwhile, in another development the court of Chief Justice Dr. Ravi Ranjan observed that a proper regulation is required about name plates being used at the vehicles. The court said that while there is a ban on the use of beacon light there should be similar regulation for name plate also. He directed the transport secretary to file a response in this regard in the next six weeks.