JUDGMENT

Raghvendra Singh Chauhan, CJ. - In compliance of the order dated 17.11.2021, both Mr. Ranjeet Singh Sinha, the learned Secretary (Home), and Mr. Pushpak Jyoti, the learned Inspector General of Prisons, Uttarakhand, have joined this Court through video conference. Moreover, in compliance of the said order, Mr. C.S. Rawat, the learned Chief Standing Counsel for the State of Uttarakhand, has submitted an affidavit of Mr. Pushpak Jyoti, the learned Inspector General of Prisons, dated 06.12.2021. The same shall be taken on record.

2. By order dated 17.11.2021, this Court had directed the learned Inspector General of Prisons to visit the thirteen jails of the State, and to give his report along with photographs of each jail, as well as to provide this Court with his vision for improving and reforming the conditions of the jails in the State. Consequently, Mr. Jyoti, the learned IGP, has complied with the said order by submitting his affidavit.

3. A bare perusal of the affidavit, and especially of the photographs attached thereto, reveals a horrifying situation and conditions of the jails in the State. According to the said affidavit, District Jail, Haridwar, has a capacity of housi