CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has directed the state government to provide an adequately staffed secretariat along with necessary administrative and logistical support to the newly-constituted monitoring committee for the management of Open Correctional Institutions (OCIs).
A division bench of Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice Chittaranjan Dash issued the direction while monitoring compliance with the Supreme Court’s February 26 judgement on prison overcrowding and reforms.
The court took on record the state’s submission that pursuant to the Supreme Court judgment, the Home department had constituted the monitoring committee through a notification dated July 28.
The bench, however, made it clear that constituting the committee was only the beginning of the compliance process. “The constitution of the Monitoring Committee, however, is only the first step towards securing effective compliance with the directions issued by the Supreme Court,” it observed.
The court directed the Home department and all other authorities concerned to ensure that the committee was provided with an adequately staffed secretariat, office infrastructure, record-management facilities and other institutional support required for its effective functioning.
The committee was also directed to commence its functioning forthwith and take necessary measures for continuous monitoring of the establishment, functioning and expansion of OCIs, besides identifying and removing implementation bottlenecks.
The bench sought a comprehensive status report within three weeks. The report must detail the steps taken following the July 28 notification, arrangements made for the committee’s secretariat and other support, meetings held and decisions taken, and progress in implementing the Supreme Court’s directions. The matter has been directed to be listed immediately after expiry of the three-week period.
The Supreme Court had sought structural reforms to address severe overcrowding in prisons and strengthen OCIs as part of the state’s obligation to protect prisoners’ right to life and dignity under Article 21. The apex court also asked states and Union Territories to fill vacancies in existing open prisons within two months and establish such facilities where they did not exist.
It called for relaxation of stringent eligibility conditions, with greater emphasis on a prisoners’ reformative potential, and removal of discriminatory rules preventing women prisoners from accessing open correctional facilities.