The State Government on Thursday tabled the Karnataka Prisons (Amendment) Bill, 2022, in the Legislative Assembly to prohibit use of cell phones or any other instrument of communication on the prison premises.
Any outsider or prison officer indulging in supplying prohibited materials, including cell phones, or any other instrument of communication to prisoners on the prison premises, would be liable to imprisonment for three years, extendable up to five years and fine, the Bill said.
Members cutting across party-lines have been demanding ban on using mobile phones and other electronic gadgets by prisoners inside jails.
The Bill also said that if the prisoner who fails to surrender on expiration of the parole, deemed to be considered as a proclaimed offender and on conviction, would be punished with imprisonment for minimum three years and extended up to five years with fine.
The person who stands surety to the prisoner, who fails to surrender himself, on conviction, will be punished with imprisonment for a term not less than six months, which could be extended to one year with fine.
The Bill aimed to amend the Karnataka Prisons Act, 1963, to make provisions more stringent to create a good atmosphere within and outside the limits of a prison on the direction given by the High Court of Karnataka in 2015.
Compensation
The Karnataka Industrial Areas Development (Amendment) Bill, 2022, was tabled in the Legislative Assembly to ensure right to fair compensation and transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (Central Act 30 2013), with respect to land acquisition. There is no extra expenditure involved in the proposed legislative measure.
