DISTRICT JAIL KATHUA

The team visited District Jail, Kathua on 18-11-2006 and met the detenues and undertrial prisoner lodged over there. The break up of the detenues and undertrail prisoners of the jail, as on 18-11-06 , is as under:

Those of the detenues and under trial prisoners, who were permitted to meet the members of the team by the jail authorities in their presence, are as under:-

While he was traveling in a vehicle and was carrying an amount of Rs.1½ lakhs the vehicle was stopped by police and the amount was snatched from him. He complained about the high handedness of police to I.G Police Mr. Khuda and for that reason only he was arrested by police on 17-10-05 and is since then behind the bars. He has been detained three times under PSA and presently it is his 3 rd order of detention , where under he is lodged in District Jail Kathua.

He has been arrested seven months back and from last three months, he is in Kathua Jail. A case is pending against him in Sessions Court, Pulwama for the last 12 years but he has not been produced in the court for the last three months.

He is languishing in jail for the last nine months. He has been tortured to such an extent that he was not comfortable while talking to us. He said that an iron rod was inserted into his private part by the police and since then he is suffering form bleeding constantly. He was required to be taken to the hospital but he is being treated inside the jail, which is not yielding any result he said that a doctor of the District Hospital , Kathua comes to the jail after every 15 days and treats the inmates. There is not medical facility available inside the jail.

He is in the jail for the last 19 months. A challan has been produced against him but he is not produced in the court.

He is in jail for the last 5 months. He is detained under PSA and a case is also pending against him in CJM’s Court, Shopain. He has not been produced in the Court , Shopain . He has not been produced in the Court form two months. His case was fixed on 2-11-06 and 16-11-06 but he was not taken to the court.

He was arrested 11 months back and is in Kathua Jail for the last 9 months. His detention under PSA has been quashed but a case is pending in Sessions Court in Pulwama. He is not however being procured in the Court. His case was fixed on 18-11-06 but he was not taken to the court.

He was arrested 11 months back and has been detained under PSA. A case is also pending against him in the Court, and during the last ten months, he was once produced in the Court. Nobody has come from his home, during the last three months to see him.

He is in Kathua Jail from the last 1½ months under PSA. He has not case pending in any court because no challan has been produced against him.

He was arrested six months back. For one month he was in Central Jail, Srinagar and for the last five months, he is in Kathua Jail. He has been detained under PSA and he has filed a petition in the High Court. No case is pending against him in any court.

A school going boy aged about 16 years was going to High School Achan, on his bike, alongwith another school boy. He was stopped at Neloora road and arrested by the police. He is in Kathua jail for the last two months. Before that he was in Central Jail, Srinagar . He had to appear in 10 th class examination on 21-11-06 but for his arrest and detention, he has not been able to appear in the said examination. No case is pending against him in any court.

A school going boy, aged about 16 years and reading in 10 th class in Imam Sahib School is detained under PSA and is languishing in Kathua Jail for the last four months. He has been detained under PSA and no case is pending against him, in any court.

A student of BA (Ist. Year) was arrested 8 months back and has been detained under PSA and lodged in Kathua Jail. He has not been produced in the court during these 8 months. He had to appear in the BA (Ist. year) examination but for his arrest and detention, he has not been able to appear in the said examination. He is, however, learning Computer operation in the jail. Doctor is coming to the jail after ever 15 days. No team appointed by the Hon'ble High Court, has ever visited the Jail.

A student of 12 th class, was arrested by the police, while going to school some nine months back. A case has been filed against him in Sessions Court Pulwama but he is not being taken to the court on the date of hearing. He was last taken to the court on 16-10-06 and though his case was posted on 15-11-06 but the was not produced before the court. He was in Baramulla Jail for about 1½ months and thereafter he was kept in various police stations and interrogation centres and finally lodged in Kathua jail under PSA. His parents are alive and he is the eldest son. He has two more brother who are going to school. No one has come to meet him, from his home. During his detention in Kathua Jail, no team appointed by the high court has visited the jail. He has challenged his detention before the Hon'ble High Court.

He is a farmer by profession and is in Kahtua Jail from the last 7 months. He has a case in Pulwama Court but he is not taken to the Court regularly. He was produced in the court last time after 2 ½ months. His case was fixed on 2-11-06 but he was not taken to the Court. His case is fixed now for 30-11-06 but he knows that he will not be produced in the court of the said date. No team, appointed by the High Court has visited the jail during his detention of 7 months in Kathua Jail. There is no doctor in the jail. A doctor comes to the jail from District Hospital , Kathua twice in a month but he is unable to attend to all the detenues and undertrial prisoners lodged in the jail. Red Cross people occasionally come to the jail but their coming to the jail and meeting the detenues and undertrial prisoners is of no help.

There are 16 foreigner lodged in the jail, out of whom the case of Khalid Mohmood S/o: Mohammad Yousuf R/o: Lahore , Pakistan is worth mentioning.

He had come to India on a visa. He was arrested in Delhi on 17-02-1994 but in police records his date of arrest is shown as 3-3-1994 . His brother Amjid had also come to India on a visa but he too was arrested by Delhi Police. Both the brother were tried by a court at Shadra Delhi and sentenced to 80 years of imprisonment which has to run concurrently and have also been asked to pay a fine of Rs.4.00 lakhs in default of which, to undergo 4½ years of imprisonment on 25-09-1996. While as Amjid is in Tihar Jail since then, Khalid Mahmood was brought from Delhi to Jammu by Mendhar Police to be produced in TADA Court Jammu. He was given benefit of Section 169 Criminal Procedure code in the said case by the police but he was thereafter booked in a case of p/s Mendhar registered in 1993. The case relates to an incident of Jan/Feb. 1993 and it is alleged that the detenue and other people had attacked an army post on that date. The detenue had come to India in 1994 and his involvement in the case is totally a concoction. In the case there are 8 witnessess out of 7 witnessess have deposed in favour of the detenue. The case is going on in the court of principal sessions Judge, the case a long time back, which is not however happing for reasons known to the concerned.

An Appeal No: 1992/92 was filed by the detenue and his brother against the Delhi Court judgment under the title Amjad Ali and other vs. N.C.T Delhi through Mr. R. S. Sodhi, Advocate to whom they had paid an amount of Rs.50,000/- as well. The case was listed before the Supreme Court on 21-01-1997 but as to what happened to it, had not been communicated by the lawyer to the detenu. The detenue is languishing in jails for the last 13 years and even though his sentence of 80 years is to run concurrently, but he does not know as to when he will come out of jail. He is also to serve 4½ years of imprisonment for non-payment of fine. He wants that his case should be taken up with the Pakistan authorities, so that he goes back to his home.

Besides Khalid Mahmood, some of the other foreigners, lodged in the jail are as under:-

The aforesaid foreigners are facing trial before Sessions Judge, Pulwama; CJM Shopain; Judical Magistrate Kupwara an Session Judge, Kupwara but they a renot regularly produced in the court. Sahrab Khan’s cases had ended in his acquittal but still he has not been released or pushed back to his country.

From what we have seen and observed in District Jail, Kathua is that like Udhampur Jail, the undertrial prisoners are nor produced in the courts regularly for facing trial. There is no adequate medical facility available for them in the jail. Doctor comes twice a month to the jail to see the detenues and undertrial prisoners but he is not able to see all of them. Most of the inmates are suffering form serous ailments but they are not taken to the hospital for treatment. The team appointed by the High Court to visit the jails, once in a month, has never gone to District jail Kathua. Though no once complained against any bad kind of treatment, meted out to them by the jail staff but we could see that they were all avoiding to answer our questions of maltreatment inside the jail because of jail superintendent over there. We could feel that the jail Superintendent has kept the detenues and under trial prisoners in different Baracks and the inmates of one barracks are not permitted to see the inmates of other barrack. There are in all 6/7 baracks and in every barracks, there are 10 to 14/15 prisoners. Within the barrack, the old practice of allowing all the inmates of all the baracks to interact with each other during the day time, has been stopped by the Jail Superintendent, who appears to be very noble soul but is actually a tough man. No prisoner dared to say anything against him to the Bar team, in his presence. We asked the Jail Superintendent as to whey he is said to be very cruel and is not liked by the prisoners. He said I am a disciplined man and what every prisoner to be displined. Whether a Jail Superintendent is required to impose his own discipline on the Jail mates, requires to be examined.