SC urges panel on prison reforms to submit final report in 6 months

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday requested a committee on prison reforms, which was constituted to examine several aspects and give recommendations on issues including overcrowding in jails, to submit its final report within six months.

A bench of Justices L N Rao and B R Gavai passed the order while hearing an application filed by the Centre seeking a direction to the Supreme Court Committee on Prison Reforms, headed by former apex court judge Justice (retd) Amitava Roy, to submit a final report within three months.

Referring to the September 2018 order of the apex court which had requested the committee to complete the collection of data and information and make appropriate recommendations and submit the same to the court preferably within 12 months, Attorney General K K Venugopal said they have requested in the application that the final report be submitted within three months.

Advocate Gaurav Agrawal, who is assisting the top court as an amicus curiae in the matter, referred to his note filed in the matter and said six months would be reasonable.

Having gone through the note and after hearing the Attorney General for India, we request the committee to submit its final report within a period of six months from today. List the matter thereafter, the bench said.

It noted that the amicus has submitted a note bringing to the notice of the court the difficulties faced by the committee in finalising the report.

At the outset, Agrawal told the bench that when the apex court had passed the order in 2018, it had given one year to the committee to give the report.

But, as we all know, there has been a delay for reasons which are beyond control so the Union has filed this application, he said.

Venugopal said, We have made a request to your lordships that the final report be submitted within a period of three months.

The bench asked the amicus how much time would be taken to submit the final report.

Six months would be reasonable. I think by September 30, if your lordships will give time. Because we have indicated timelines. Some reports are under preparation which would be submitted in two months from today and some reports within four to six months, the amicus said.

The apex court observed that it would give six months.

This application is filed on behalf of the Union of India seeking a direction to the committee constituted by this court on prison reforms to expedite and submit a final report within a period of three months, the bench noted in its order.

Advocate Tarini Kamakhya Nayak, representing Meghalaya, also appeared in the matter.

The top court is hearing a matter relating to inhuman conditions in 1,382 prisons across India after it had taken suo motu (on its own) cognizance of a letter written way back in 2013.