Video-conferencing facility at Mangalore prison not working

Video-conferencing facility between the Mangalore District Prison and the District Court functioned only for a few days after it was set up a year ago.

The facility has not been restored despite several representations to the authorities concerned.

“I do not know the reason why it takes nearly a year to resolve the technical problem. The facility remains abandoned,” president of the Mangalore Bar Association S.G. Chengappa told

The Hindu .

Solution

The facility was thought of as an ideal solution for the problem related to frequent failure of the police to produce undertrials before the courts because of shortage of escort personnel.

According to Bangalore-based Additional Director General of Police (Prisons) Kuchanna Srinivasan, the facility has been set up in all the district and central prisons. At places where similar set up is not in place in courts, such facilities are being kept in use by organising monthly meetings from his office.

Fanfare

Mr. Chengappa said the video-conferencing facility between the Mangalore District Court and the Mangalore Prison was inaugurated with much fanfare last year. But after a few days, the set-up at the District Prison stopped working.

“The authorities need to have better cables between the court and the prison,” he added.

Risk

Such a facility, Mr. Chengappa said, reduced the risk involved in bringing those involved in serious cases from the prison to the court. A large number of police escorts were needed to bring such persons to courts. “With the shortage of escort personnel, the problem of non-production of undertrials still continues,” he added.

Reminders

District Prison Superintendent C.S. Ambekar said the facility had not been set right in the prison at all. “We have sent reminders to the company concerned but it has not responded,” he said.

Mr. Ambekar said there were 237 undertrials in the Mangalore Prison. On an average, 25 of them were produced before courts every day. He admitted that the problem of non-production of undertrials still continued.