From the number of pending cases against them to hospitals to the menu in the jail canteen, inmates in Delhi’s prisons are making use of the RTI Act to access information from the outside world or simply to avail better facilities inside.
Inmates in the three jails in the national capital — Tihar, Rohini and Mandoli — have filed at least 500 RTI requests in the last two years, prison officials told The Indian Express.
While many of the requests, the officials said, were directed at the jail administration, others were from prisoners seeking information about their cases from the police or to access court documents.
Most of these RTI applications were filed by high-risk prisoners. “A majority of high-risk prisoners include gangsters and other serial offenders who often file RTI requests in an attempt to avail more prison facilities,” said a jail official who did not wish to be named.
“They seek information regarding a particular diet and whether it is available for the inmates or not or regarding the price of a particular food item in the prison canteen.”
Explaining the process of inmates filing RTI requests, another official said the prisoners usually write their applications by hand and submit them to the respective jail superintendents. The jail superintendents then transfer the applications to the authorities concerned.
“While writing their requests, the inmates who are not very literate seek help from educated inmates who have filed RTIs in the past who help them frame their questions… They also take the help of legal aid lawyers to file an RTI,” said the official.
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Within the Delhi prison administration, the questions pertain to food in the jail canteens, with some asking why a particular food item was not served. Many others simply wanted to know a particular prison rule.
“Within the jail, except for providing information requests regarding a third party, we mostly dispose of all applications to the inmates’ satisfaction… If they are unsatisfied, the inmates can appeal to the first appellate authority, which is the Additional Inspector General (Prisons), following which it is directed to the Central Information Commission (CIC) for further appeal,” added the prison official.
Sunil Gupta, prison expert and Tihar’s former law officer, said most inmates know how to utilise the RTI Act. They even push for more information from the CIC when the initial response is not satisfactory to them.
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“Inmates mostly seek information which pertains to them, be it from the jail administration or any other authority… They file RTIs with the particular police station where their case is lodged to seek updates in the probe or want information from a particular hospital about medical facilities if the inmate wants to get treatment there,” Gupta added.
Gupta said that through RTI the prisoners also seek their entitlements for a reduced jail term in certain cases. Also, he added, prisoners sometimes use it to seek access to medical documents.
“Inmates often require medical documents to file before court when seeking bail or to be referred to another hospital,” Gupta said.
Jail canteen menu to pending cases: Inmates in Delhi jails turn into RTI activists - The Indian Express
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