HC unhappy with security, treatment in prison

The High Court (HC) has expressed its dissatisfaction over the mismanagement in maintaining security and providing medical service at the prisons all over the country. 

The HC asked the home secretary and the Inspector General (IG) (Prison) to inform what steps the government had taken in this regard. They have been asked to respond by October 15.

The judicial enquiry report on the death of Advocate Palash Kumar Roy was submitted to the HC on Wednesday. 

Expressing its discontent during the hearing, the HC bench of Justice Sheikh Hasan Arif and Justice Md Bodruzzaman made the order on Wednesday. 

The court made the directive in response to a writ filed by supreme court lawyer Barrister Sayed Sayedul Haque. At the hearing, the pleader represented himself while the Deputy Attorney General Bipul Bagmar represented the state.

The investigation report says it was a suicide, and the court also thinks the same.

Barrister Sumon, on Tuesday, told the court Palash received treatment after as long as 24 hours after he got burnt, because of official red-tape. The procedures could have been done after providing treatment, he said. It shows negligence in medical service in the prison, Sumon maintained.

The court expressed its discontent over the lengthy procedure required to provide an inmate treatment, saying that had Palash received the treatment on time he could have survived. 

The court compared the situation with a Bollywood movie "Munna Bhai MBBS" where similar time-wasting take place.

The court also questioned how a fire or a match was easily available inside the prison. 

The judicial report said there was neither any CCTV camera nor any archway entrance in the prison. It also said gas lighters are frequently used for lighting cigarettes. 

The authority, usually, pushes hooks inside bags, and a jailor is assigned to look after the procedure when any food-laden vehicle enters into the prison.

There is no doctor in prison hospital but a nurse (diploma). Besides, a prisoner with a life sentence, who has been assigned to look after the apparatus of the surgical department, can easily provide someone with knives or scissors. 

Palash, son of Pronab Kumar Roy of Atoari upazila, had been in jail since March 26 over a case filed for, allegedly, making a derogatory comment about Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. His mother Hira Rani was the female vice-chairman of Atoari upazila. 

Palash fell victim to a fire caught in a bathroom of the prison on April 26. Later, he was moved to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital burn unit and died there on April 30. 

Sumon filed a writ seeking a judicial enquiry of the matter. 

The HC ordered a judicial enquiry on May 8. 

The court asked to submit the investigation report within 30 days. Following the order, a magistrate made the investigation under the supervision of the chief judicial magistrate of Panchagarh.