(Extra-Ordinary Civil Writ Jurisdiction) in the Matter of a Public Interest Litigation W.P
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BEFORE THE HON’BLE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI (EXTRA-ORDINARY CIVIL WRIT JURISDICTION) IN THE MATTER OF A PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION W.P. (C) No. 3778 OF 2020 IN THE MATTER OF : Sarthak Maggon …PETITIONER VERSUS Union Of India &Ors. ...RESPONDENTS INDEX S. No. Particulars Pg. No. 1. Written Submissions On Behalf Of Petitioner 1-25 On Status Report Dated 06.07.2020 2. Annexure A1- 26-29 Copy of the status report dated 06.07.2020 as received by the Petitioner on 06.07.2020 3. Annexure A2- 30-35 Step by Step pictures of the Petitioner’s failed attempt at registration on NPIP for meeting with a prisoner. 4. Annexure A3- 36-37 True Copy of State-Wise NPIP Statistics for the period of 15.03.2020 – 05.07.2020 5. Annexure A4- 38-39 True Copy of News Reports explaining the VC mulakat systems of the State of Bihar 6. Annexure A5- 40-42 True Copy of News Reports explaining the VC mulakat systems of the State of Gujarat 7. Annexure A6- 43-44 True Copy of News Report explaining the Whatsapp Video Call mulakat system by the Prison Department of the State of Tamil Nadu 8. Annexure A7- 45-49 True Copy of Visitation Guidelines by Pennsylvania Department of Corrections in the United States of America. 9. Annexure A8- 50-52 True Copy of Order of this Hon’ble Court in W.P. (CRL.) 855/2020 dated 09.06.2020 10. Annexure A9- 53-57 True Copy of Order of this Hon’ble Court in W.P. (CRL.) 942/2020 dated 30.06.2020 11. Annexure A10- 58 True Copy of Circular of this Hon’ble Court dated 09.06.2020 12. Annexure A11- 59-62 True Copy of Order of this Hon’ble Court in W.P. (CRL)772/2020 dated 12.06.2020 13. Annexure A12 (Colly)- True Copy of Order(s) 63-67 of this Hon’ble Court in W.P. (Crl.) No. 873 of 2018 dated 03.04.2020 & 30.04.2020 14. Annexure A13 – 68-72 The E-mail from the Petitioner & other Advocates to the various Prison Authorities 15. Annexure A14- 73-77 True Copy of the representation dated 02.07.2020 to the High Powered Committee by the Petitioner. 16. Annexure A15- 78-79 True Copy of order of this Hon’ble Court in W.P. (CRL.) 948/2020 dated 03.07.2020 17. Proof of Service 80 NEW DELHI 06.07.2020 Sarthak Maggon, Advocate (PETITIONER IN PERSON) O: 7/34-B, Basement, Jangpura-B, New Delhi-110014 E: [email protected] M: +91-7045654395 W: www.smlawoffices.in 1 BEFORE THE HON’BLE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI (EXTRA-ORDINARY CIVIL WRIT JURISDICTION) IN THE MATTER OF A PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION W.P. (C) No. 3778 OF 2020 IN THE MATTER OF : Sarthak Maggon …PETITIONER VERSUS Union Of India &Ors. ...RESPONDENTS WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS ON BEHALF OF PETITIONER ON STATUS REPORT DATED 06.07.2020 1. That, the captioned matter was filed in Public Interest under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking appropriate writ/order/directions of this Hon’ble Court against the Respondents herein to build adequate technical infrastructure for conducting legal mulakat telephonically/ through video conference to ensure access to justice to the inmates of Tihar Prison Complex and other jail premises. 2. That, the captioned matter was listed before this Hon’ble Court on 29.06.2020, wherein the Counsel for Respondent No. 2, submitted a ‘Status Report’ regarding measures to be undertaken in furtherance of the relief sought by the 2 Petitioners herein. It was submitted before this Hon’ble Court that post-suspension of physical mulakat of counsel/family & friends with prison inmates vide Circular of Respondent No. 3 dated 25.03.2020, telephonic facilities have been operative to facilitate interaction of inmates with counsel/family & friends. Additionally, it was submitted that Video Conferencing (VC) facility had been operative between Delhi High Court Legal Services Committee with prisoners since 22.06.2020. Further, Video Conferencing facilities have been available to women prisoners in Central Jail No. 6 since 24.06.2020. Lastly it was submitted that these facilities will be extended to the rest of the prisoners within ten to fifteen days to interact with their private counsel/ family & friends. 3. That, vide order dated 29.06.2020, this Hon’ble Court had allowed the Counsel for Respondent No. 2 to submit an updated Status Report addressing the grievances of the Petitioner, and an update on the implementation of the measures propounded in the previous Status Report. It is noteworthy that the status report was accordingly received on 06.07.2020 and the same makes reference to Circular No. File/ Cd No. 3607441/ Legal/ 2020/ 34699. (Circular) Copy of the status report dated 06.07.2020 has been annexed herewith as ANNEXURE A1. 3 SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE CIRCULAR DATED 06.07.2020 4. That based upon the procedure enumerated by the Respondent No. 2 through the Superintendent-I, Prison Headquarters, the following remarks must be considered to ensure that the circular does not vest undue and arbitrary discretion on the nodal authority to accept or reject legal mulakats since the said discretion shall be counter- productive to the recognition of legal mulakats as a right. The following suggestions are directed towards the achievement of a holistic and long-lasting infrastructure. The contents of the Circular are extracted hereinbelow: “1. That the applications received through email from the private counsels shall be considered by the Superintendent Jails. 2. Superintendent shall take a prompt decision to allow / decline request on the merit / verification of vakalatnama and identity of applicant . 3. After scrutiny of request, slot for video conferencing may be fixed for an early possible date. The same will be intimated to the concerned at least one day in advance. 4.Legal interview through video conferencing will be conducted for maximum half an hour of each 4 interview, subject to maximum of two interviews in a week. 5. Link for video conferencing will be sent by email through which the advocate can establish a link for video conferencing. 6.The video conferencing shall be allowed on First Come, First serve. 7.The legal interview shall be conducted in the presence of Deputy Superintendent / Assistant Superintendent / other jail staff but out of hearing 8.If any misuse of video conferencing by the users is noticed, the facility extended will be withdrawn immediately. 5. That, it is a sincere suggestion of the Petitioner that Clause No. 1 of the Circular be made more robust. While, it is appropriate to tender application to the Superintendent of the Jails, the contact information of all the Superintendent of all Jails shall be mentioned along with the above. This would ensure that Counsels are not tendering their applications for Virtual Mulakats with prisoners to inappropriate authority, and that the Mulakats are not delayed due to administrative reasons. Moreover, it is 5 suggested that for coordination purposes and to avoid delays in applications by Counsels, the e-mail IDs and telephone lines are manned, and prompt responses are received. 6. That, it is a sincere suggestion of the Petitioner, that in furtherance of Clause 2 of the Circular a transparent mechanism may be set up wherein the Counsels and other applicants are given full disclosure of the reasons for rejection of their application. It is most humbly submitted, that the process of rejection of request should not seem arbitrary and opaque. 7. That, it is a sincere suggestion of the Petitioner that Clause No. 3 of the Circular be amended to be time-bound. It is submitted that the Counsels applying for a legal mulakat might need urgent conference with the prisoner pertaining to an urgent aspect of their case or otherwise. In this situation, it would be beneficial that instead of an “early date possible”, the requests may be accepted and the slot may be given within a period of Forty Eight Hours or shorter period of time as this Hon’ble Court may deem fit. The same would ensure the motive of the Circular itself, which is to assure prompt decisions on behalf of the Prison Authorities. 6 8. That, it is a sincere suggestion of the Petitioner that in Clause No. 5 of the Circular, an addition be made to the effect of providing a telephone number for immediate contact in case the link is unresponsive or there are some technical glitches. This would ensure prompt redressal so that the slot allotted to a Counsel or any other applicant may be utilised on schedule. 9. That, the Petitioner hereby requests the Respondent No. 3 to provide clarity and explanation to Clause No. 6 of the Circular. The words “first come first serve” are ambiguous and warrant elaboration as they leave room for arbitrary exercise of decision making power. It is suggested that the Respondent No. 3 provide for a flexible mechanism of accommodating legal mulakats in a day, owing to the sometimes urgent nature of the legal mulakats, if the counsel has given prior intimation to the Superintendent of the concerned Jail. 10. That, it is a sincere suggestion of the Petitioner, that in Clause No. 7 of the Circular the importance of privileged communication between the Counsel and their Client shall be the guiding consideration of virtual legal mulakats as well. The measures as suggested by the Respondent No. 3, shall not in any way be an infringement of the right of the prisoner to disclose information in the confidence of his/her counsel.