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Tag: prison conditions

Ill-Treatment of Stan Swamy in Jail Should ‘Shake Foundation of Democracy’

Ill-Treatment of Stan Swamy in Jail Should ‘Shake Foundation of Democracy’

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

Iklakh Rahim Shaikh, who spent time with the Jesuit priest in Taloja jail, says while “VIP prisoners” get access to all kinds of facilities, prisoners like Swamy are denied even the most basic rights.
A pretrial detainee at the Taloja central prison in the outskirts of Mumbai, who spent close to a year with 84-year-old Jharkhand-based tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy, says the Jesuit priest struggled for a long time before he finally died in July last year.
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All I ask is an hour to breathe in fresh air, soak in sun, rights activist Gautam Navlakha in plea

All I ask is an hour to breathe in fresh air, soak in sun, rights activist Gautam Navlakha in plea

All I ask is an hour to breathe in fresh air, soak in sun, rights activist Gautam Navlakha in plea

31/12/2021

The Free Press Journal / by Bhavna Uchil

Rights activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case lodged in the anda cell of Taloja Central Prison, made a handwritten application before a special court on Thursday, seeking that he be allowed an hour of fresh air and sun in the prison premises.
He, along with his co-accused, were produced before the special court on Thursday when he submitted the plea.
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Court allows Gautam Navlakha’s partner to meet him in jail

31/12/2021

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

Gautam Navlakha has been lodged in Taloja Central Jail since last April.
A special court on Thursday allowed an application filed by activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Elgaar Parishad case, to allow his partner Sahba Husain to meet him in prison.
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Also read:
● Gautam Navlakha Case: Cracking up (India Legal / Nov 2021)

Surendra Gadling Says Jail Authorities Denying Him Medicines

Surendra Gadling Says Jail Authorities Denying Him Medicines

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

“The non-availability of medicines and hot water is posing a danger to my life,” the lawyer wrote in a letter to the additional director general of prisons.
In the latest instance of inhumane treatment meted out to the accused in the Elgar-Parishad case, lawyer Surendra Gadling has accused the Taloja central jail superintendent of blocking his supply of ayurvedic medicines, which he had been permitted to access by the trial court.
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Video: The Prison Song of Surendra Gadling

hindi | 11min | 2021

In August, when human rights lawyer Surendra Gadling was released on interim bail for a week, he made a quick visit to the Nagpur sessions court to meet his colleagues and friends. 51- year-old Gadling, a well-known criminal lawyer in Nagpur, was once a cultural activist, who sang songs of political resistance. The 11- minutes- long rendition tells you what it means to be incarcerated in Indian prisons. From food, water, to medical care, everything is a struggle, Gadling narrates. The song was recorded by one of Gadling’s colleagues and was made available to The Wire after obtaining his consent.
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‘The Point Is Not to Surrender’: The Sudha Bharadwaj I Know

‘The Point Is Not to Surrender’: The Sudha Bharadwaj I Know

The Quint / by Smita Gupta

‘They call Sudha a terrorist, an anti-national. I have known her for over 30 years. You can’t find a better friend.’
“Sudha’s got bail!” These were the three words we have been desperate to hear for over three years and for which our brilliant and committed lawyers – Adv Yug Mohit Chaudhry and his team – have left no stone unturned; news her daughter Maaysha (Anu to all of us) has agonised over and lived for the past three years. And yet, I couldn’t believe it until I spoke to the lawyers myself. For all of us, Sudha’s friends and family, it is devastating that on some technicality the other co-accused were denied default bail.
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Rights of prisoners – Gautam Navlakha Case: Cracking up

Rights of prisoners – Gautam Navlakha Case: Cracking up

Indialegallive / by Abhinav Mehrotra

The shifting of the activist to the dehumanising high security prison cell has highlighted the need to uphold the rights of prisoners. Many judgments have tried to elevate them to a more humane state.
The debate between personal liberty and national security concerns has been growing. In this context, the norms surrounding solitary confinement and speedy trial along with ensuring human dignity while being incarcerated need to be reemphasised.
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Also read:
● How the ‘anda cell’ is used to discipline prison inmates (The Indian Express / Oct 2021)

Court Allows Anand Teltumbde 5 Mins Telephone Call With Mother After Brother’s Encounter Killing

Court Allows Anand Teltumbde 5 Mins Telephone Call With Mother After Brother’s Encounter Killing

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The Special NIA Court has allowed Dalit scholar Anand Teltumbde a telephone call to his mother for five minutes on loud speaker after his brother and alleged Maoist leader Milind Teltumbde’s encounter killing by security personnel in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district.
In his plea to the Special NIA court, Teltumbde said his ninety-year-old mother is in a state of shock and bereavement after Milind’s demise and therefore he may be permitted a telephone call.
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Also read:
● Kin harried as phone calls of undertrials discontinued (The Indian Express / Nov 2021)

Kin harried as phone calls of undertrials discontinued

Kin harried as phone calls of undertrials discontinued

‘Emotional Torture’: Why Don’t Indian Jails Give Inmates a Right to Phone Calls?

16/11/2021

The Quint / by Vakasha Sachdev

With pandemic restrictions easing, many states are once more taking away the option to call families and lawyers.
Dear Reader,
The Indian criminal justice system is plagued by apathy, indifference and indeed, injustice. This story is The Quint’s effort to ensure that the many everyday tragedies of this system do not remain mere statistics. It’s the story of Archana, who will have to travel for eight hours and wait in line for as long, to meet her imprisoned brother Vinod for 5-7 minutes. Of Sahba, whose partner Gautam is an undertrial in a jail in a different part of the country, who will no longer be allowed to speak to him on the phone.
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Kin harried as phone calls of undertrials discontinued

15/11/2021

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

The prison department has decided to discontinue phone calls and video calls from prisoners after physical mulaqats (meetings) were resumed last month.
It has been a month since Sahba Husain spoke to her partner, Gautam Navlakha, lodged at Taloja Central Jail in Navi Mumbai as an undertrial in the Elgaar Parishad case. Husain is one of the many family members affected by the decision by the Maharashtra prison department to discontinue phone calls and video calls from prisoners after physical mulaqats (meetings) were resumed last month.
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How the ‘anda cell’ is used to discipline inmates / Do we run to courts for basic human rights? / Video

How the ‘anda cell’ is used to discipline inmates / Do we run to courts for basic human rights? / Video

How the ‘anda cell’ is used to discipline prison inmates

28/10/2021

The Indian Express / by Jinee Lokaneeta

The torturous practice of solitary confinement, whether for 24 hours or a large part of a day, remains a key feature of modern prisons, sometimes by another name. The continued use of an “anda” (egg-shaped) cell or high security cell in the Indian context appears to be, in effect, the use of solitary confinement — defined by many as cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or torture — by another name. The news that eminent journalist and human rights activist and scholar implicated in the Bhima Koregaon case, Gautam Navlakha, has been moved to an “anda” circle in Taloja jail on October 12 is just another reminder that imprisonment itself appears inadequate for the state.
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Do we run to courts for basic human rights? asks Navlakha’s partner, says he’s not allowed to call

27/10/2021

The Print / by Bismee Taskin

Sahba Husain says the rights activist has also been denied access to the library, canteen and jail’s green areas ever since he was shifted to the high-security Anda cell.
It was in April last year when human rights activist Gautam Navlakha surrendered before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Bhima Koregaon case.
Since then Navlakha has been in prison — first in Delhi’s Tihar jail and then in the Taloja jail in Mumbai. Earlier this month, the 70-year-old, along with five other accused, was shifted to the high-security ‘Anda cell’ of the Mumbai prison.
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Also watch: Book Launch “Colours of the Cage”


en | 1h 10min | 2014
‘Colours of the Cage’ is the real story of what goes on behind bars – it isn’t like the celluloid or novelistic versions that readers are familiar with. However, it is not just a harrowing account of life in prison but also a memoir of astonishing power – about a man’s stubborn fight for justice and the triumph of the human will.
This video was recorded at the launch of Arun’s book ‘Colours of the Cage’ on the 26th of September, 2014 at the Press Club, Mumbai. Seated on the dais from the left, are journalist-author Naresh Fernandes, author-poet Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira and playwright-director Ramu Ramanathan.
Watch video

Also read:
● Kin of jailed activists write to authorities to not discontinue telephone calls (Sabrangindia / Oct 25, 2021)

Condemn The Solitary Confinement Of The Bhima Koregaon Accused!

Condemn The Solitary Confinement Of The Bhima Koregaon Accused!

By Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)

CONDEMN THE SOLITARY CONFINEMENT AND CONTINUING HARASSMENT OF THE BHIMA KOREGAON ACCUSED BY TALOJA CENTRAL JAIL AUTHORITIES!
STOP PUNISHING POLITICAL PRISONERS FOR THEIR BELIEFS!

The high handedness of the Taloja Central Jail administration was evident in the events leading to the death of the octogenarian Bhima Koregaon undertrail, Stan Swamy on July 5, 2021. Almost immediately, the remaining BK undertrials protested the arbitrary jail conditions imposed by the then Superintendent, Kaustabh Kurlekar by observing a one-day hunger strike. However, far from bringing such persecution to an end, a new repressive regime has been installed by Superintendent UT Pawar. Its latest manifestation is the transfer of Vernon Gonsalves, Sagar Gokhale, Ramesh Gaichor, Surendra Gadling, Sudhir Dhawale and most recently on 12 October 2021 Gautam Navlakha to the ‘anda’ circle, the high security prison area in Taloja Jail. Imprisonment in the anda cell is a form of solitary confinement which is blatantly illegal in the case of undertrial prisoners.
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Allow phone calls with prisoners, say kin of Elgar Parishad accused

Allow phone calls with prisoners, say kin of Elgar Parishad accused

Allow phone calls with prisoners, say kin of Elgar Parishad accused

26/10/2021

Times of India / by Shishir Arya

Relatives of the Elgar Parishad case accused lodged in jail have demanded that the special facility of allowing phone calls by prisoners started during the Covid pandemic should not be discontinued. The facility has been demanded for all the prisoners, irrespective of the cases under which they have been held.
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Kin of jailed activists write to authorities to not discontinue telephone calls

25/10/2021

Sabrangindia / by Sabrangindia

Since prisons are all set to resume physical mulaqats, the authorities have informed the families that weekly calls will no longer be functional.
The family members of the accused undertrials in the Bhima Koregaon violence case, have written to the Additional Director General of Police (Prisons) and Special Inspector General of Police (Prisons) to continue the weekly phone calls with them.
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