Madurai: Madras high court has sought reports from authorities on allegations that prisoners from marginalised communities were being made to clean toilets at prisons in Madurai, Trichy and Tirunelveli districts.
Poor oppressed prisoners, much like their upper caste counterparts, are entitled to equal rights and fair treatment, he said. The court also directed the principal district judges of Madurai, Tirunelveli and Trichy to inspect the prisons and file a report. The judges further directed the superintendents of prisons to file a report. The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by K R Raja of Madurai district, stating that at central prison in Madurai, inmates belonging to the marginalised community were being disproportionately assigned to perform manual scavenging and toilet cleaning duties. A similar discriminatory arrangement appeared to exist in Palayamkottai Central Prison in Tirunelveli district and Trichy Central Prison, it claimed. The petitioner stated that the continuation of such inhumane practices under official custody (prisons) gravely undermines the rule of law and human dignity. Hence, the petitioner moved court seeking a direction to the authorities to prevent caste discrimination and manual scavenging work and toilet cleaning work assigned to prisoners from oppressed communities.
A division bench of Justice C V Karthikeyan and Justice R Sakthivel on Monday directed the secretaries of district legal services authority of Madurai, Tirunelveli and Trichy to inspect the prisons, examine CCTV footage, conduct inquiry with prisoners and file a report before the court.