IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Criminal Misc. No. 35044-M of 2007 Date of decision : May 29, 2007 Surinder ....Petitioner versus State of Haryana and others ....Respondents Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Pritam Pal Present : Ms. Sarla Chaudhary, Advocate, for the petitioner Pritam Pal,J. (Oral) Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that the petitioner is a convict and lodged in District Jail at Gurgaon which is at a distance of 150 kilometers from the native village of the petitioner whereas the another District Jail at Narnaul is only at a distance of 45 kilometers from the native village of the petitioner. In this view of the matter, relations of the petitioner have to cover a long distance to meet the petitioner in jail at Gurgaon. It is further contended by the learned counsel for the petitioner that representation Annexure P/1 was also made to the Director General of Prisons, Haryana i.e. respondent no. 1 that in view of sections 737 and 739 of the Jail Manual, petitioner is entitled to be shifted to a jail nearer to the native village of the petitioner but no action has been taken so far. Criminal Misc. No. 35044-M of 2007 -2- Notice of motion. On the asking of the Court, Mr. A.K.Rathee, AAG Haryana accepts notice. Copy of the petition has been given to him. After hearing the learned counsel for the parties, this petition is disposed of with a direction that respondent no. 1 shall decide the representation Annexure P/1 within 15 days from the receipt of the certified copy of this order. At this stage before parting with the order, it is also observed that during my annual inspection of different jails in the State of Haryana, many jail inmates/convicts came forward with similar kind of grievances, as that of the petitioner in the case in hand. Further it is also pertinent to mention here that many of the convicts at the time of my inspection of the Central Jail at Hissar on 4.4.2007 made written and oral requests for giving directions to the Director General of Prisons, Haryana to decide their parole matters at the earliest. It has also specifically been brought to my notice that the Director General of Prisons, Haryana had not visited the Central Jail, Hissar for the last about two years. Thus, taking an overall view of the facts and circumstances as discussed above, a direction is also given to the Director General of Prisons, Haryana that he should at least visit once or twice in a year to Central/District Jails in the State of Haryana for redressing genuine grievances of the convicts/jail inmates at the spot. ( Pritam Pal ) May 29, 2007 Judge 'dalbir'