Tha Jammu & Kashmir And Ladakh High Court in the case Mst Jana Vs State of J&K observed that the prison authorities cannot be absolved of their duty to ensure the safety and security of the undertrials. Therefore, the court granted the compensation for an amount of Rs. 5 Lakh to the kin of an undertrial who was being killed as a result of an attack made by a co-prisoner inside Srinagar Central Jail.
The bench headed by Justice Sanjay Dhar stated that even though the deceased was an undertrial in a murder case, the respondents were not absolved of their liability in order to ensure the safety of him and security in the jail. A prisoner cannot be deprived of his constitutional rights except in accordance with law.
The plea states that the kin of the deceased had sought compensation from the State, wherein it is argued that the authorities were under a legal obligation to protect his life.
Further, it has been submitted before the court that the State and its functionaries had failed to discharge their legal duty and as a result of which they have been deprived of the company and affection of their kin due to his untimely death.
On the other hand, the respondent submitted that all the measures with regards to safe custody of the prisoners were taken and the jail inmates were not allowed to keep any prohibited article in their possession. However, since the buildings of jail or the barracks are being old structured, the co-prisoner managed in order to remove a stone from the wall with which he attacked the deceased.
The bench headed by Justice Dhar in the case noted that the deceased was in custody, his homicidal death took place when he was attack had taken place at 7 AM in the morning and had the watch and ward staff of the jail been vigilant and thus, the said incident could have been avoided as the incident has taken place in the morning and not in the dead of the night.
The bench of Justice Dhar also observed that it has themselves been admitted by the respondent in the case that the building of jail is very old and the co-prisoner managed to take out a stone from the wall of the jail which has been used by him as a weapon of attack upon the deceased.
In the present case, the fact that the respondent State has failed to properly manage the jail barracks and allowed condition of the same to deteriorate to such a level that a co-prisoner was able to take out a stone or brick from the wall, wherein it showed clear negligence and callousness on the part of the respondents.
It has also been observed by the court that the deceased despite being an undertrial prisoner in a murder case was entitled to protection by the jail authorities and it has been concluded by the court that his untimely death has deprived the petitioners, who happen to be the widow, sons and daughters of the deceased, of his love and affection as also his company, as such, they are entitled to the said compensation.
