BENGALURU: Permitting home cooked food indiscriminately to inmates merely on request or as a matter of indulgence by courts without medical examination or recommendations would create chaos in the prison management as other inmates would also seek similar treatment, the Karnataka High Court said on Wednesday, setting aside a trial court order, allowing home food for Pavithra Gowda and others, accused in Renukaswamy murder case.
Justice M Nagaprasanna passed the order, allowing a petition filed by the state government questioning the trial court orders of December 29 and January 12, passed on the application of Pavithra Gowda, Nagaraja R and Lakshman M, accused Nos. 1, 11 and 12. The trial court had allowed home food for the accused, including actor Darshan.
The high court stated that home-cooked food for undertrials is not prohibited, but can be granted only in accordance with the prison rules and procedures. Medical advice must precede the grant of home-cooked food. Permission cannot be granted merely on request or as a matter of indulgence.
But the trial court directed the grant of home-cooked food without prior medical examination or recommendations. Such concessions would create chaos in prison management as other inmates would also be entitled to similar treatment, it added.
It stated that the adequacy and quality of prison food is a matter of concern, noting that Rs 85 per day for four meals raises legitimate questions about nutritional sufficiency. Though the court was informed that the amount was increased to Rs 125 recently, it was still not happy with it.
“To safeguard the prisoners’ rights and ensure transparency, I deem it appropriate to direct the digital publication of the prison menu at conspicuous places, establishment of a complaint mechanism enabling prisoners to report deficiencies in food quality, inter alia, if not one in place already. The medical officer or a designated dietitian should conduct periodic inspection of food prepared and record their certification with regard to its quality intermittently,” the judge observed.