PANJIM: The High Court of Bombay at Goa on Tuesday disposed of a criminal bail application based on an assurance by the jail authorities that they shall continue to strictly enforce measures to curb illegalities such as use of mobile phones inside the Colvale jail premises, consistently follow up the proposals made by them with the government authorities concerned and establish necessary mechanisms to deal with such issues.
During the previous hearing, the Court had granted time to the jail authorities to file a compliance report, indicating the measures taken by them to curb the lapses in the jail administration and increase accountability.
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On Tuesday, the Additional Public Prosecutor Swati Kamat Wagh placed on record the final report of the Superintendent of Jails.
After going through the report, the single bench Justice Dr Neela Gokhale noted that the jail authorities are seized with the gravity of the issue and are taking necessary action to curb the incidents sought to be addressed in the prison by the jail authorities. It appears that the jail authorities have recommended various steps to ensure that the prison’s security is not compromised and that discipline is maintained.
The jail authorities have corresponded and communicated with other agencies concerned and various proposals from the prison administration are under consideration at various levels. It appears that the prison administration is taking steps to curb the illegal activities in the prison, the Court noted.
Further the court observed that these proposals have been forwarded to various government authorities by the jail authorities need to be considered expeditiously and decisions need to be taken on them at all levels of the government authorities concerned. It is expected that the government authorities concerned will also act in aid of the jail administration’s recommendations and proposals and take decisions expeditiously.
The decisions taken would be strictly enforced by the jail authorities and other authorities concerned to reinforce security and monitoring mechanisms in the prison and intensify surveillance with the objective of securing discipline in the prison.
Earlier, Chandu Patil had sought to withdraw the present bail application since the trial programme had already been filed before the Trial Court.
The use of mobile phones in the Colvale came to light after the victim that complained that the applicant was telephoning her from jail and inquiring about the matter which was causing her mental disturbance. The complainant had also lodged a written complaint to the President of the Goa Children’s Court, requesting to take necessary action against the applicant.
