Justice Veerappa directs legal services authority to move Supreme Court for release of 93-year-old woman

Moved by the condition of a 93-year-old woman languishing in Kalaburagi Central Jail, Upa Lokayukta Justice B. Veerappa directed the district legal services authority to consider moving the Supreme Court for her release.

Justice Veerappa, who was on a Kalaburagi district tour to hear public grievances, visited the jail on Saturday morning, along with Kalaburagi Police Commissioner Sharanappa S.D., Superintendent of Police Adduru Srinivasulu, senior civil judge Srinivas Navale, and others to take stock of the jail condition.

When he came across Nagamma, a resident of a village in Jewargi taluk, who was sentenced to three years imprisonment in a dowry harassment case registered in 1995 under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, Justice Veerappa said that it was the first case he saw in his prolonged legal career where a woman was undergoing sentence at her ripe age.

“She is too old to manage herself. She needs care and help from others to survive. The jail staff are assisting her. She needs her liberty at this age,” he said, before directing Mr. Navale, member-secretary of the district legal services authority, to approach the Supreme Court with a review petition. He also spoke to Supreme Court’s Registrar General H. Shashidhara Shetty over the phone and discussed the matter.

Justice Veerappa also inspected the quality of food being provided to the inmates by consuming some of the items. When he saw some inmates just rising from the bed when he entered a barrack, he advised them to get up at 6 a.m. every day and do some exercises and yoga and read books.

“You must have committed an offence during your bad time. You must get transformed into a good human beings during your punishment in the jail. Jail is a mind-transforming centre,” Justice Veerappa said.

When some inmates appealed to him to get them released on parole, Justice Veerappa directed the jail Superintendent to take appropriate action on their pleas.

Justice Veerappa then visited the women’s barrack where 26 inmates were lodged and interacted with the inmates. He asked them to take, if required, the legal aid free of cost from the district legal services authority. He also praised the embroidery works made by jail inmates.

Published - November 17, 2024 07:00 am IST