Bombay High Court: In a Criminal Writ petition sent through Taloja jail by one of the inmates, praying for the direction to the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (‘CIDCO’) to provide adequate water for inmates, the Division Bench of Revati Mohite Dere and Gauri Godse, JJ. directed the Secretary to District Legal Service Authority (‘DLSA’) to visit Taloja jail and verify the water supply made available to the inmates.
It was alleged that the inmates were getting only one and half bucket of water for the entire day, which was grossly inadequate.
The Court noted that the report of Home Department and Superintendent of Taloja Jail does accept inadequacy of water supply and further states about requirement of 3 lakh litres of more water for inmates. It further pointed that CIDCO increased the pipeline size from 80 MM to 100 MM, but the water supply remained inadequate for Taloja Jail inmates.
The Court directed the Secretary to DLSA to visit the jail, verify water supply, interact with the inmates and verify the water supply made available to them, see the condition of the wells, the cleanliness of the water tanks,and whether the rain water harvesting system could be available in Taloja jail. The Court further restricted the presence of any of the Jail Officers during DLSA Secretary’s interaction with the inmates.
The Court also directed a responsible officer from CIDCO and Deputy Secretary from the Home Department to be present during the inspection. The Court had further directed the Secretary Raigad to submit his report before 22-06-2023.
[Abhay Shamsundar Kurundkar v. State of Maharashtra, Criminal Writ Petition No. 437 of 2023, Order dated: 13-06-2023]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For the Petitioners: Advocate Sandesh Manikhedkar;
For the Respondent: Additional Public Prosecutor P.P. Shinde, Advocate Ashutosh Kulkarni.
