SC directs jails to fill vacancies, audit account

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Centre to fill up all vacancies among the prison staff, and devise a way to audit jails. The SC further asked the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to take urgent steps to ensure proper training for the jail staff.

The Home Ministry has also been asked to set up and devise a separate Board of Visitors for the smooth monitoring and inspection of jails to ensure they are being run in accordance with the rules.

"We direct the Union of India, through the Ministry of Home Affairs, to take urgent steps to prepare training manuals for various categories of staff and officers in jails," a bench comprising of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said.

Earlier, the court had pointed to "huge discrepancy" in expenses incurred on jail inmates by various states and had asked MHA to come out with a scheme to audit the accounts of jails across the country with the assistance of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

The apex court was hearing a bunch of petitions on prevailing inhuman conditions prevailing in 1,382 prisons across the country.

According to data submitted, the sanctioned strength of jail officers and staff as on December 31, 2014 was 79,988, of which the actual strength stood at 52,666. In an affidavit filed by the MHA on April 11, the Union had submitted state-wise breakup of the vacancies among the jail staff. While there was no information from a few states at all, there were others where vacancies were as few as in their 50s, to those running in thousands.