Supreme Court's stern warning to Rajasthan over taking away land of open-air jail in Sanganer

JAIPUR: A Supreme Court bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice KV Viswanathan on Wednesday delivered a strong reprimand to the state govt over construction of a hospital on land in possession of the open-air jail in Sanganer. The bench warned that if the state proceeds with the construction, the chief secretary will have first-hand experience of being in the Sanganer open-air jail.
The observation came on a contempt petition filed by one Prasun Goswami before the apex court in a matter titled Suhas Chakma versus Union of India and others.
Rajasthan High Court is also seized with a similar matter, wherein an application has been moved by amicus curiae Prateek Kasliwal to apprise the court that the land has been in possession of the Open Air Camp since 1963 but was taken away easily because of the larger perception that prisoners did not need so much space.
Kasliwal said the Open Air Camp was India's best open jail institution. Of the total 51 open-air camps in Rajasthan, which have a capacity for housing 1,600 prisoners, the occupancy is only 1,339 (84%), he said.
The Supreme Court came down heavily on the govt for proceeding with the allotment of land of the open jail in spite of a clear order passed on May 17 this year.
On July 30, the deputy commissioner of JDA had issued an allotment letter in favour of the Director, Public Health, Medical and Health Services, Rajasthan, for expansion of a satellite hospital. This allocation was of an additional 21,948 square metres from the total 30,400 square metres of land allocated to the open-air jail.
Rajasthan govt also instructed the Director of Medical and Health Services to coordinate with Central Jail authorities to remove the cells of the open prison to facilitate the hospital's construction, said Kasliwal.