The Calcutta High Court on Thursday ordered transfer to the criminal bench of a case in which an amicus curiae had claimed that some female inmates lodged in reform homes in West Bengal were becoming pregnant and 196 children were living in various such facilities. .
Advocate Tapas Kumar Bhanja, who was appointed amicus curiae by the court in the 2018 suo motu motion on overcrowding in jails, submitted a note containing these issues and suggestions before a division bench headed by Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam.
Noting that the note points out “some serious issues”, the bench said it states that female prisoners are becoming pregnant in custody.
The Amicus Curiae’s note said that around 196 children are living in various jails of West Bengal.
Bhanja suggested banning the entry of male employees of correctional homes into the enclosures of female prisoners.
He submitted before the division bench, which also included Justice Supratim Bhattacharya, that a copy of the note has been sent to the office of the state advocate general.
“In order to take an effective decision on all these matters, we consider it appropriate that the matter should be placed before the Hon’ble Division Bench dealing with criminal roster determination,” the court directed.
The Chief Justice directed that the matter be placed before him for appropriate orders in this regard.
A division bench headed by the then Chief Justice of the High Court had in 2018 initiated a resolution taking suo motu cognizance of overcrowding in correctional homes in the state.
Some related cases which were filed earlier and later have also been tagged with the proposal and are being heard together.
