CHENNAI: Madras High Court has directed the Member Secretary, TN State Legal Services Authority (TNLSA), to call for a meeting of Government representatives and the counsel of three PILs as well as the Amicus Curie to discuss the condition of women prisons and the implementation of various suggestions already made to improve them.
The first bench of Chief Justice SK Kaul and Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana gave the direction on Thursday while passing further interim orders on a batch of PILs highlighting the poor conditions prevailing in lock-ups and women prisons in the State.
During the course of the hearing on an earlier occasion, the bench had constituted a panel, led by TNSLA member-secretary. Advocate Sudha Ramalingam was appointed the amicus curie to assist the panel and the court. After making several visits to the prisons, the panel submitted its report containing various suggestions, including constitution of Visitors Committee.
After going through the report, the bench directed the committee to meet again for the implementation of its recommendations and to place the net position before the Court. If there is any hesitation by the Government to implement, the reasons for the same should be disclosed. This information should be made available to the bench in the form of a chart, the bench said and posted the matter for further hearing to January 25, 2016.