Conditions of inmates: Supreme Court asks lower judiciary to take stock of situation

In a bid to improve deplorable living conditions of detainees in different jails, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed all district and sessions judges to submit compliance report on court's order about the pathetic condition of prisons by personally visiting jails located in their areas of jurisdiction.
A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry and Justice Gulzar Ahmad resumed the hearing of a suo-motu case on conditions of prisoners in jails. During the course of proceedings, CJ Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry rejected compliance reports submitted by all four provinces on apex court's order regarding the measures being taken by them to improve miserable condition of prisoners in jails and remarked that the concerned authorities failed in improving their living conditions.
"The compliance reports are nothing except piece of papers; the concerned authorities failed to address the problems being faced by the prisoners as they are being treated like animals "they are locked up in very small cells," the CJ said. He observed that because of the congested cells dangerous diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis C were spreading among prisoners, adding that Mianwali and Tando Jails were so hot that due to a lack of proper ventilation in cells prisoners were facing suffocation.
While giving suggestions to the representatives of the provinces about the solution of overcrowding of inmates in jails, he said that new detention centers be constructed across the country to improve the capacity for accommodating prisoners. He observed that the condition of jails' hospitals was also miserable due to a lack of doctors. The bench adjourned proceedings of the case for two weeks.