Behind Bars, You Get Sushi

Jails are like a parallel universe. The rich and the powerful manage to pay their way through layers of corruption to buy privile­ges for themselves. Those who cannot afford it struggle to survive till they find their way out of the legal labyrinth. For them, the process itself becomes the punishment.

The goings-on inside prisons came back into sharp focus with Karnataka IPS officer D. Roopa바카라�s report on Ban­galore Central Prison highlighting the comforts enjoyed by its high-profile inmate V.K. Sasikala. The officer바카라�subsequently transferred to a traffic post-ing even as an inquiry into her report has begun바카라�pointed out to rumours that Rs 2 crore had changed hands for special treatment for the powerful Tamil Nadu politician. The 60-year-old AIADMK leader even had a kitchen for her exclusive use, Roopa said.

The report also red-flagged other issues. These included information that another convict Abdul Karim Telgi, serving term for the fake stamp paper racket, had a few undertrials serving him in his cell. Besides, there was rampant use of cannabis in the jail, as the administration failed to check the flow of drugs.

Much of this doesn바카라�t really come as a surprise to those dealing with the country바카라�s criminal justice system. Outlook spoke to experts, lawyers, former jail administrators and even those who have served time inside prison to piece tog­ether how it is possible to get just about anything in jail. For a price, of course. As per information put together from various sources, an inmate can lead a comfortable life inside the jail at a monthly expense of about Rs five lakh.

Raja Bagga, a programme officer with NGO Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) says Sasikala바카라�s access to special privileges is 바카라�not really a surprise바카라�. 바카라�The possibilities of getting luxuries are endless,바카라� he notes. 바카라�We바카라�ve heard from inmates (of other jails) how a samosa would cost Rs 200 if they wanted to eat one. You would get what you want, but you have to pay.바카라�

Everything, from a sam­osa to a plate of Sushi or a bottle of Blue Label Johnnie Walker to a mobile phone바카라�the most sought-after pri­vilege바카라�can be 바카라�arranged바카라� in the prison. In addition to cellphone and outside food, unauthorised perks that can repo­rtedly be purchased are allotment of a good cell and outings on medical grounds.

Mobile phones are the biggest reason for money exchanging hands in the prison system. 바카라�Mainly small-time gangsters and extortionists need the phone to keep their business running from jail. In Delhi바카라�s Tihar, an inspection found gangster Neeraj Bawana (later shot dead in court by a rival) using a cellphone,바카라� says a Tihar official.

Tamil Nadu jails are also notorious as places where mobile phones come in handy to 바카라�sketch바카라� future crimes. The Central Prison at Puzhal, just outside Chennai, housing more than 300 convicts and 2,000 undertrial prisoners, is known as a hub of criminal planning. 바카라�The inmates have easy access to mobile phones to send out instructions on hit jobs or threats to witness not to depose during a trial,바카라� says a criminal lawyer, who visits the jail to see his clients housed in the prison. 바카라�If you know who to bribe, you can get any type of food, liquor, even ganja. It is a well oiled system which includes the jail staff.바카라�

If it is money power that rules Delhi, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, it is sheer political clout that runs roughshod over the prison system in Kerala.  Even tho­ugh the Kerala Prisons and Correctional Services (Management) Act, 2014, has addressed the rights of prisoners and tried to improve the conditions of inmates, political prisoners always seek special privileges using their political clout, sources tell Outlook.

There are whispers that political parties of various hues intimidate jail officials to extend certain privileges to their 바카라�boys바카라� or 바카라�girls바카라� imprisoned. A severe shortage of staff to man the prisoners has made it mandatory to install CCTV cameras in all locations in the jail but most of these sets do not function or are uninstalled to allow prisoners with pol­itical connections to enjoy themselves.

There have been reports of how the undertrials and the accused in the case of murdering CPI(M) breakaway leader T.P. Chandrasekharan posted messages on Facebook. While the allegations could not be proved, it was found that 35 of the 90 CCTV cameras in Kozhikode jail were not functional.

It is believed that high-profile Saritha S. Nair, accused in a solar panel scam case, enjoyed special privileges in jail. She was seen dressed in different sarees on her way to the court even though she was only allowed two sets of clothing.

A Delhi-based lawyer says that one of his rich clients managed to live it up INS­ide Tihar jail by keeping the jail staff happy. Not only did the inmate have co-prisoners serving as attendants, he also got allotted a VIP cell attached with bathroom and a kitchen. 바카라�His favourite food was Sushi from a joint in upscale Khan Market. Only that a Rs-1,000 dish cost Rs 10,000 by the time it reached him, crossing three levels of checks. He claims he regularly invited the jail staff to join him,바카라� the lawyer says. Also, the inmate paid some undertrials to do menial jobs for him, including cleaning his cell and toilet as well as washing his clothes. 바카라�This client of mine is not the only one who has managed these privileges,바카라� the lawyer adds.

A retired senior officer, who served in Tihar jail for over three decades, reveals how cells inside prison are 바카라�sold바카라�. Allotment of a good cell is the biggest source of corruption in the jail, according to him. Usually, the prisoners are sent to live in the barracks inside a huge hall with a capacity for 30 inmates. However, overpopulation in the jail means more than 100 prisoners could be allotted one barrack. The 10 jails inside the Tihar complex have a capacity for 6,250 inm­ates, but they house as many as 14,500.

바카라�There are around 400 cells with each housing up to five inmates. It can be eit­her one, three, four or five inmates in a cell,바카라� reveals a former jailer. 바카라�A one-time payment for a cell can be around Rs five lakh with a monthly payment of around Rs one lakh. The monthly payment is given to hold on to the cell given the high demand. However, if a prisoner wants an entire cell to himself, then the entry payment could be as much as Rs 10 lakh with a monthly payment ranging between Rs one to three lakh.바카라�

Businessman Gopal Ansal, who is an accused in the case of Uphaar cinema tragedy, is also staying in a cell, reportedly with two inmates as attendants. Neelam Krishnamoorthy, who lost her two teenage children in the 1997 Uphaar fire, tells Outlook that she found out that Ansal has a cell to himself that he shares with two others, who are actually his sewadars (attendants). Krishna­moorthy has filed several RTIs to find out about the facilities extended to Ansal. She got a reply to one RTI seeking to know why Ansal was not produced in court for a hearing on another case on May 27. 바카라�I was told that no production warrant was received. It is clear that the prison staff is helping him maybe because he does not want to travel in the jail van with rest of the undertrials,바카라� she says.

Then there are some cells earmarked as VIP wards, including one for Vipassana-style meditation. 바카라�These are for actual VIPs as against the CIPs (commercially impor­tant persons),바카라� the former officer explains. 바카라�These cells cannot be allotted for money. Their allotment is done by the DG Prisons or the home secretary of the state.바카라� Arvind Kejriwal and Anna Hazare, during their days of fight against corruption in 2011, were allotted these cells, as was Rajendra Kumar, former principal secretary to the Delhi government.

Former police officer R.K. Sharma and politicians A. Raja and Pappu Yadav were also allotted the VIP wards. Amar Singh, another neta, too lived in one of the VIP wards and reportedly had two other inm­ates attending on him. He was allowed home-cooked food on medical grounds.

Medical privileges are other sought after perks allegedly available for a price. Sources say there are many instances when the prisoners got themselves adm­itted to a hospital (on recommendation of the prison doctors) instead of spending time in prison. 바카라�The ailment could be a small thing like peptic ulcer or migraine but will be amplified to a tumour,바카라� reveals a doctor at Delhi바카라�s Deen Dayal Upadhyaya hospital, where Tihar inmates are usually referred. 바카라�It can be done for a price.바카라�

There is the reported case of politician D.P. Yadav바카라�s son Vikas, convicted for murder. Serving a life term, he managed to make 70 trips outside jail between 2008 and 2010. He spent most of his prison time in hospitals despite no rep­orted health problem. He got caught out when he spent the 2011 Diwali night outside AIIMS, where he was admitted on recommendation of jail doctors. Delhi High Court then sought a medical report from a medical board in army바카라�s Research and Referral Hospital that said most of the visits and admissions in hospital by Vikas and his brother and co-accused Vishal Yadav were not needed.

Senior advocate Vikas Pahwa says that he cannot understand why the jail staff ext­end undue privileges. 바카라�Tihar is anyway a model jail and things have become more flexible for prisoners in terms of facilities. The stress is on reformation and not retribution,바카라� he tells Outlook. 바카라�They can order food from the canteen and even special fruits by placing an order with the canteen. The money is deducted from the inmates바카라� account. There are yoga classes, meditation, legal aid, coolers and TV. Inmates are officially allowed to make one phone call of five minutes using kiosks provided on the premises.바카라� Foreign inmates are permitted even Skype calls from the superintendent바카라�s office.

Sewadars are officially provided by the administration to the old and the infirm, Pahwa adds. About influential prisoners, he says that Manu Sharma, serving life term for the 1999 murder of model Jessica Lal, has been shifted to a semi-open jail inside Tihar. 바카라�He can roam around freely anywhere within the premises of the prison (200 acres),바카라� info­rms Pahwa. 바카라�After two years in semi-open jail, he will be entitled to the open prison, where he will be allowed to go out within the union territory of Delhi to work and return in the evening.바카라�

Neeraj Kumar,  a former Tihar jail director-general who was at the helm when politicians like Kanimozhi, Raja and Suresh Kal­madi were sent to prison, says nobody got any special treatment under his watch. 바카라�I only took care of their security: they should not be atta­cked by any other prisoner,바카라� he says. About privileges enjoyed by some prisoners, he says the jail administration can put counter-measures.

CHRI바카라�s Bagga says a board of visitors making periodic inspections in jails is not effective. 바카라�If they were to visit the prisons as mandated, they would have known about something like this (the privileges to Sasikala). We recently did a study that found less than one per cent of the country바카라�s 1,400 jails are following the prison-visiting rules. So, if you don바카라�t have a visiting system in function, such incidents keep on happening without people knowing about it,바카라� he says.

Former Vigilance Commissioner R. Sri Kumar, who headed Karnataka바카라�s StampIT바카라�the special team probing the Telgi fake stamp paper cases바카라�says the criminal justice system is rotten. 바카라�So are the prisons or correctional systems. Much of what바카라�s going on is nothing short of organised crime,바카라� he says, adding pun­itive action doesn바카라�t deter it. 바카라�The actions taken are often only symptomatic. 바카라�Off with this head and off with that head바카라� and so on. What바카라�s called for is wholesale blood transfusion,바카라� he says.

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Tihar Jail Menu

• Rs 1 lakh Mobile phone use for a month

• Rs 1 - 2 lakh Outside food, liquor, cigarettes a month

• Rs 5 lakh One-time payment for allotment of a cell (sharing with two others) and Rs one lakh monthly

• Rs 10 lakh One-time payment for allotment of cell (single occupancy) and Rs one to Rs 3 lakh monthly

• Rs 50,000 - 5 lakh Medical outing a month

• Rs 15,000 Inmates as attendant a month

By Bhavna Vij-Aurora with Ajay Sukumaran, G.C. Shekhar and Minu Ittyipe