INHUMAN CONDITIONS IN PRISONS IN INDIA
Very Appreciable Order, ‘Supreme Court For Audit Of Jail Accounts’, But Such Orders Never Implemented In Letter And Spirit In India. Why?

​“In Bihar, the average expenditure per inmate per year was 83,691, around 28 times more than the money spent on an inmate in a year in Rajasthan where the figure stood at just Rs 3,000. Similarly, it’s about Rs 54,468 per inmate per annum in Nagaland, while in Punjab it was about Rs 16,669 only, the court noted.”
Please be read as a part of following ORDER: Thanks
http://supremecourtofindia.nic.in/FileServer/2016-02-05_1454655606.pdf
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.406/2013
RE - INHUMAN CONDITIONS IN 1382 PRISONS
 
O R D E R
http://supremecourtofindia.nic.in/FileServer/2016-02-05_1454655606.pdf
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/sc-for-audit-of-jail-accounts/367817.html
Posted at: Feb 22, 2017, 2:06 AM; last updated: Feb 22, 2017, 12:30 PM (IST)
SC for audit of jail accounts
Satya Prakash
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 21, 2017
1. Puzzled by huge discrepancy in per prisoner expenditure in various states, the Supreme Court has ordered an audit of jail accounts by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) to ascertain whether the money meant for inmates was being wisely spent.
2. The order came from a three-judge Bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur that asked the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to “come out with a scheme for auditing these accounts with the assistance of the CAG at the earliest, and if possible, by March 31, 2017.”
3. The Bench, which is seized of a public interest petition filed in 2013 on pathetic condition of prison inmates across the country, was amazed to notice that there was a great discrepancy in the expenses incurred on inmates, particularly during 2015-16.
4. “In Bihar, the average expenditure per inmate per year was 83,691, around 28 times more than the money spent on an inmate in a year in Rajasthan where the figure stood at just Rs 3,000. Similarly, it’s about Rs 54,468 per inmate per annum in Nagaland, while in Punjab it was about Rs 16,669 only, the court noted.”
5. “There is a huge discrepancy in this regard that needs to be looked into. It may also perhaps be necessary to have the accounts audited to ascertain whether the money is being spent wisely and whether it is being utilised for the benefit of the prisoners or not,” the Bench said.
6. The top court directed all states and union territories to cooperate with the MHA and provide all necessary details and information, failing which heavy costs would be imposed on them.
7. It directed all states and UTs to take immediate steps to fill vacancies in jails and initiate concrete steps in that regard on or before March 31, 2017, and intimate the MHA.
8. The order came after the court was informed that there were only 52,666 jail officials/staff as on December 31, 2014, against the sanctioned strength of 79,988. It meant that about 27,000 posts of jail staff/officers were lying vacant at the end of 2014. “It is unlikely that there has been a substantial improvement since that date,” the Bench noted.
9. It also directed the MHA to take urgent steps to prepare training manuals for various categories of staff and officers in jails. “Concrete steps should be taken in this regard on or before 31st March, 2017,” it said.
P.S:
http://supremecourtofindia.nic.in/…/2016-02-05_1454655606.p…