Morung Express News
Dimapur | December 29
The Gauhati High Court has directed the states of Nagaland, Assam, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh to file comprehensive affidavits addressing issues highlighted in an inspection report on the conditions of central and district jails across these states.
The division bench, comprising Chief Justice Vijay Bishnoi and Justice Kaushik Goswami, issued the directive during a hearing on December 20, 2024.
As per the Court’s order, the direction was made following an inspection report by a Committee comprising the Member Secretary of the Assam State Legal Services Authority and the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Prisons for Guwahati and Jorhat ranges.
The Committee had inspected different central and district jails in the states of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh.
The inspection report, annexed to an affidavit filed by the Registrar General of the Gauhati HC on August 20, 2024, found the conditions in the jails in all four states to be largely “unsatisfactory.” The Committee had made certain recommendations for improvement in its report.
However, the Court noted that all four states have not responded to the affidavit filed on behalf of the Registrar General of the Gauhati HC.
Accordingly, it directed the counsel representing the states of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh to file their respective comprehensive affidavits addressing all the issues highlighted by the Committee in its inspection report.
The affidavits shall include what measures the four states have taken in respect of the recommendations made by the Committee and, if those recommendations have not been implemented, the timeline for their implementation, the Court added.
Listing the matter for Writ Petition (Suo Moto) for further hearing on January 29, 2025, the Court asked all four states to file the affidavits by that time.
