BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday asked the state government to submit a response on the status of central prisons and facilities provided to the inmates of central prisons across the state.The division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice H T Narendra Prasad asked the government advocate to submit a report during the hearing of PIL filed by the High Court Legal Services Committee seeking directions to the state to implement the directions issued by the Supreme Court.
The court said the report should have the specific issues pointed out by the apex court such as steps taken to provide facilities to women inmates with children, providing adequate washrooms, quality of food, visitation facility and whether the Mental Health Act has been implemented.
The court also asked the state to act on the report submitted by Karnataka State Human Rights Commission (KSHRC). KSHRC had submitted a report to the state after visiting prisons. The report had indicated the lack of sufficient doctors, insufficient beds in hospitals and overcrowding, among other human rights violations. The court adjourned the hearing to July 4.