The Supreme Court recently dismissed a petition seeking to raise the number of times family members and lawyers can visit prisoners lodged in Delhi jails.
A bench comprising Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice Pankaj Mithal said that the absence of such restrictions would make it difficult for jail authorities to handle affairs at the prisons. The top court added that there was no question of relaxing the same.
Mentioning that the prisoners are accused and the number of visits are policy matters, Justice Bela M Trivedi remarked that it will become difficult for jail authorities to manage so many visits. He added that there needs to be a restriction for the undertrials.
The advocate appearing for the petitioner noted that prisoners in the national capital are overcrowded and a case for relaxation is made out more so in the age of video conferencing. Following, the bench proceeded to order that they are not inclined to interfere in the matter and granted liberty to file appropriate applications.
The Supreme Court bench was hearing an appeal challenging a Delhi High Court judgment from February 2023 that had rejected a plea to relax the Delhi Prison Rules that restricts the right of inmates to consult a lawyer to two meetings a week.
Reportedly, the petitioners challenged Rule 585 of the Delhi Prison Rules, 2018, mentioning that it violates the right to access justice guaranteed to undertrial prisoners and convicts by Article 21 of the Constitution. Advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai, the lead petitioner prayed that the Prison Rules should provide for an interview with legal advisors from Monday to Friday for an unlimited number of times.
During the proceeding, the counsel appearing for the petitioners pointed out that other developing countries like the United States of America do not have any bar on the number of such legal meetings with inmates.