District courts, jail authorities working on e-Prison Module : HC told

The Delhi High Court was informed on Thursday that the district courts here and jail authorities are working on e-Prison Module for streamlining the communication between courts and jails, like delivery of remand and bail orders and warrants. However, a status report filed in the high court does not indicate the deadline by which the e-Prison Module will become functional.

A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad asked the authorities to discuss the issue with the Director General (Prisons) on the deadline by when the e-Prison Module will be functional. The court listed the matter for the purpose on October 21.

A status report filed by Principal District and Sessions Judge (Head quarters) said 'the Centralized Computer Committee along with NIC Delhi and jail authorities is working on e-Prison Module for stream-lining the communication between courts and the jail including the delivery of remand orders, bail orders, production warrants, release warrants or any other communication." Earlier the jail authorities had raised the issue that the courts while issuing the production warrants are not making endorsements specifying to the effect that whether the prisoner is in custody or on bail in the particular FIR. To this the district judge found as appropriate the solution given by Delhi legal service authority that all judicial officers must clearly mention on the custody warrant itself that whether a particular accused is in custody in the specified FIR for which he was produced before the court or on bail.

"In that regard, with the help of the Centralized Computer Committee, the production warrants have been modified in the manner that it provides the necessary information with respect to the prisoner for whose appearance the production warrants have been issued," the status report said. Further, the report said that the ahlmad of the particular trial court should be appointed as nodal officer for any clarification as he is the custodian of bail bond register and judicial files and will be the best person to expeditiously deal with the matter regarding any discrepancy found by the jail authorities in the release warrant.

It added that the communication between the ahlmad of the court and the Jail Superintendent ought not be verbal and it will be through email and the ahlmad will take a print out of the email conversation and place it on record without any delay. "Necessary directions have already been issued to all the courts having criminal jurisdiction in Delhi District Courts to utilise the production warrants developed for such purpose and also respond to the queries of the jail authorities promptly and diligently," the status report.

The Delhi government was represented through standing counsel Rahul Mehra and advocate Chaitanya Gosain. The court was hearing a matter related to unlawful detention of a person in prison for a period six days.