'Comical': Bombay HC on jail officials saying PG Wodehouse books 'security risk'

The judges were also displeased to see that the lawyer representing the state government was absent.

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Monday chided Taloja jail officials after it was informed that they refused to allow PG Wodehouse’s book ‘World of Jeeves and Wooster’ to Elgar Parishad case accused Gautam Navlakha, terming it a security risk.

The bench was hearing an application filed by Navlakha, seeking orders to place him under house arrest (AP)

“This is really comical. It shows the attitude of the jail authorities,” said the division bench of justices Sunil Shukre and GA Sanap, commenting on the jail official’s refusal to accept the book.

“It is your job to make the life of the prisoner comfortable,” the bench added.

The judges were also displeased to see that the lawyer representing the state government was absent. They said that his absence gave the impression that the allegations levelled by Navlakha about abject conditions in the jail and lack of basic facilities were true.

The bench was hearing an application filed by Navlakha, seeking orders to place him under house arrest rather than keeping him incarcerated in Taloja jail. During the course of the hearing, his counsel Yug Choudhary said that the 70-year-old was facing a lot of problems in jail and was not being provided with necessities like spectacles and a chair.

Choudhary further pointed out that Navlakha developed several health issues since he was kept at Taloja jail over the past two years and as he was 70-year-old there was a fear of his health condition worsening like that of other accused P Varavara Rao and Father Stan Swamy.

Choudhary said that as the trial would take some time to start if Navlakha continued to stay in the squalid conditions of the jail he would not be fit to stand trial and hence he should be allowed to remain under house arrest.

The court was further informed that the quarantine barrack in which Navlakha had been transferred was not fit for human habitation and even the bathrooms were not cleaned. Choudhary stressed the fact that though his client’s affidavit had highlighted all the problems he faced in jail, the state’s reply did not bother to deal with any of the specific allegations.

When Choudhary referred to the refusal of the jail authorities to let Navlakha receive a PG Wodehouse book, which was sent back citing security threat, the bench sought to know from advocate Sandesh Patil for the National Investigation Agency (NIA), if it was true.

Patil confirmed the same but said that the decision – to refuse to accept the book – was that of the jail authorities and hence the NIA could not have intervened.

Wodehouse was one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century.

After the bench was informed that no advocate was appearing for the state government or the prison authorities, the bench expressed unhappiness and after additional solicitor general Anil Sigh assured the bench that the advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni would be requested to assist the court on the next date, the bench adjourned hearing on the petition.