New Delhi: Former IPS officer Ravi Kant
Sharma, a convict and serving life imprisonment in the murder
of journalist Shivani Bhatnagar, on Wednesday sought Delhi High
Court's intervention in providing telephone facilities to the
prisoners of Tihar jail.
Seeking a response from the NCT government, a Division
Bench of Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice Manmohan sought
the government's view within four weeks.
While converting a letter written by Sharma for the
"telephonic mulakat" (conversation) into a PIL and taking suo
motu cognisance, the Court appointed Arvind Nigam as the
Amicus Curiae to assist the court in the matter.
Sharma, in his letter written to a trial court's NDPS
judge during his visit to jail on July 11(who later referred
the letter to the High Court Chief Justice), said "due to
seclusion in jail many prisoners suffer from depression and
various mental disorder".
"Permission to speak with family members on telephone
and installation of booths in jail can help reduce unnecessary
stress," Sharma also said.
According to him, several times he, along with other
prisoners, had requested the Jail Superintendent to extend
telephonic conversation facility to prisoners but their
requests were turned down by the senior officer stating it
could lead to security problem and the permission could not be
granted.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, August 26, 2009, 20:41