Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday asked
Maharashtra government to consider providing non-vegetarian
food once a week and eggs in breakfast daily to undertrials
and convicts in prisons.
The division bench of Justices Ranjana Desai and R V More
was hearing the petition filed by 1993 serial bomb blast
convict Sardar Shawali Khan, challenging the circular issued
by the Inspector General of Prison in December 2008 banning
non-veg food in the prison canteen.
"Canteens in Tihar jail and Tamil Nadu prisons provide
non-veg food to prisoners thrice a week....why is it banned
in Maharashtra," argued his lawyers A M Z Ansari and Farhana
Shah.
Public prosecutor P A Pol said that non-veg food is given
to prisoners only on four occasions in a year.
"We understand that no prisoner should get 5-star
treatment but some reasonable relief has to be given to them.
Don`t give them everyday, but once a week they can be allowed
to purchase non-veg food if they want," Justice Desai
remarked.
Pol said he would call a meeting of prison officials to
discuss the proposal of providing non-veg food once a week.
Following this, court adjourned the hearing for two weeks.
PTI
