Fill up vacancies in prison hospitals: Karnataka HC tells state government

The High Court of Karnataka on Friday directed the state government to fill up within three months all sanctioned posts of medical and paramedical staff in prisons across the state.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka passed this order after going through a statement submitted by the state government.

In the statement, the government had requested the court to grant three months to respond to the issue of vacancies. Presently 86 out of 114 posts of medical officers/psychiatrists/pharmacists are vacant, including all 7 posts of Chief Medical Officer (CMO) in prison hospitals.

Meanwhile, the court has asked the respective district legal services authorities to conduct surprise inspections of prisons in the districts to ascertain the facilities at visitors’ rooms. The district legal services authorities have been asked to ascertain whether the visitors can see and also properly hear the prisoners during the visitation.