Need effective phone jammers in Tihar Jail: court
By IANSWednesday, August 25, 2010
NEW DELHI - The Delhi High Court Wednesday directed the Tihar jail authorities to install jammers to check illegal use of mobile phones in the prison.
The direction came while disposing a matter taken up by it on its own initiative after an unidentified prisoner wrote to Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kaveri Baweja in 2009.
Taking a serious view of the use of mobile phones by inmates in the prison, the high court May 25 directed the authorities to seize all the phone instruments within three days.
On Wednesday, a division bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Manmohan directed Director General (Prisons) B.K. Gupta to install effective jammers immediately.
“It is a shocking state of affairs pertaining to the use of mobile phones in jails despite CCTV cameras,” the court said.
“Why are you (Tihar) not relying on your rules and regulations?” the bench asked.
The bench expressed dissatisfaction over Gupta’s reply that jammers were installed in the premises.
“It is just a curative measure and not a preventive measure,” the court said. “This shows that the jammers are not effective in the entire jail premises.”
Last year, at least nine mobile phones and 11 SIM cards were recovered in from the jail. Mobile phones are prohibited inside the prison.
A person found with a prohibited item is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or fine not exceeding Rs.200 or both.
