KOCHI: The NIA court in Kochi has intervened in the prison department’s decision not to allow a suspected Maoist leader and under-trial prisoner in Viyyur High-Security Prison from keeping 26 books at his cell to study economic, political and religious issues. On a petition filed by T K Rajeevan, NIA Court Judge Anil K Bhaskar passed an interim order directing the jail superintendent to release the books provided by the petitioner’s friend at the jail on November 27, 2021.
Rajeevan, a resident of Pookode near Koothuparamba in Kannur, was arrested in November 2020 for his alleged Maoist links. In 2021, NIA arraigned him as an accused in the Nilambur Maoist training case and he was shifted from Kannur Central Prison to Viyyur High-Security Prison.
On November 27, 2021, Rajeevan’s friend produced before the jail authorities eight volumes of ‘Economic & Political Weekly’ and also 26 books. However, the jail superintendent refused to hand over the books and decided that the petitioner could keep only five books at a time. However, the petitioner challenged the decision at the court claiming that he has to refer to many books at a time and the restriction imposed by the jail authorities curtails his right to continuous education.
The jail superintendent submitted a report to the court saying that keeping many books in the cell will adversely affect the jail security, hinder search activities and lead to radicalisation. In a second report, the jail superintendent detailed the contents of the book and claimed that many of them were on religion. The petitioner’s version in this regard is that he is an atheist and he only wants to study religion.
“No complaints have been received from the jail superintendent that the petitioner is involved in any radicalisation activities. In the given circumstance, it is too harsh for the jail superintendent to withhold the books and pass an order that the petitioner is only entitled to keep five books at a time. It adversely affects the petitioner in continuing the study he has undertaken,” the court observed in its order on March 17.
The court also referred 1996 Bombay High Court decision in George Fernandes vs State of Maharashtra which had set aside an order passed by the jail authorities restricting the number of books to 12. “It is to be taken note that CCTV cameras are fixed in all cells and every movement of the prisoners are being captured.
Any suspicious behaviour on the side of the petitioner visible from CCTV recordings can be produced by the jail superintendent, if it supports his concern on security,” the court observed. Earlier, the same court had intervened after a Maoist case accused, Danish alias Krishnan, of Coimbatore, had challenged against strip search at the Central Prison, Thiruvananthapuram.