CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Thursday sought a feasibility report from the authorities of Prison department on having open jails in the state.
The HC initiated suo motu proceedings on the proposed open jails and issued the direction while hearing a PIL on problems in prisons of the state. The matter has been fixed for further consideration on December 5.
The division bench of Chief Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh and Justice Savitri Ratho said, “The court expects that the director general of Prisons shall in the meantime consider the feasibility of having more open jails/open colonies in the state.”
The Chief Justice made it clear that the court wants open prisons or open jails in the state which allow convicts to work outside the premises during the day to earn a livelihood and return in the evening unlike in the case of Biju Patnaik Open Air Ashram at Jamujhari in Khurda district which is an open-air jail, but inmates are locked behind bars after evening.
The ashram under the Prison directorate is originally meant for confinement of male prisoners sentenced to rigorous imprisonment (for periods of 10 years and more) with the objective of reforming them so that they can be able to enter the mainstream of the society after their release. Currently, it has 50 convicts who are locked in prison cells after evening. The ashram has a capacity of accommodating 125 convicts.
The Chief Justice expected open jails or colonies in the state which are basically prisons without walls, bars and locks making them different from traditional closed jails.
Open colonies are a type of open jail that allow inmates to live with their families, giving chance for employment and self-sufficiency besides preparing inmates for life after release.