Compensate prisoners overstaying jail term: CIC

editorial@tribune.com

New Delhi, October 6

The authorities of the country’s largest prison Tihar have been asked by the Central Information Commission (CIC) to develop a system of giving compensation to inmates who have been incarcerated for a duration more than their sentence period.

The commission has also directed the prison authorities to suo moto disclose the process of compensation to such prisoners as part of their obligation under the Right to Information Act.

“Strangely, the courts treated the MLA and the common man differently in awarding compensation. A poor prisoner Rudul Shah got Rs 30,000 for 14 years of extra detention, while an MLA Bhim Singh was given Rs 50,000 for one day’s false imprisonment. In a recent case, another poor citizen got just Rs 50,000 for 113 days of imprisonment,” Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu pointed out in his order.

Deciding the plea of one OP Gandhi, who claimed to have spent four day more than the court order in Tihar, Acharyulu said he must be paid token compensation by the prison authorities at the rate of Rs 2,500 per day along with an additional Rs 1,000 for costs borne by him.

“The state is expected to give people friendly administration. The jail authorities cannot breach the rights of prisoners and refuse any remedy. If this educated and courageous appellant has not brought out this issue of extra detention, it would have been not possible for anyone to know the breach of his constitutional and human rights,” he said. — PTI