The Supreme Court has ordered the appointment of a Court Commissioner to inspect the site for acquiring part of the Sanganer Open Camp to set up a hospital.
The Rajasthan government has also tendered an apology in the court for reported contempt of the court in the case of land acquisition.
Hearing the petition against the Rajasthan government, a division bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and KV Vishwanathan on Monday ordered the appointment of its Registrar as Commissioner of the court.
The court directed the Registrar to visit the location in Sanganer near here over a weekend, examine the ground situation, and submit a report before the court, PUCL president Kavita Srivastava said in a communique.
PUCL has been spearheading a campaign along with the NGO Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG) and others to save the open area of the Sanganer Open Jail and other such institutions from being reduced. The current petition before the apex court has also been filed by the NGO’s activists, including Suhas Chakma.
Earlier on May 17, the court had passed an interim order stating that “there shall be no attempt to reduce the area of open-air camps, institutions, or open camp jails, wherever they are functioning”.
“Despite this, the Rajasthan government proceeded with the allotment to the Health Department for a hospital by the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) and also instructed the Director Medical and Health Department to coordinate with the central jail authorities to remove the existing cells of the open prison to facilitate the hospital’s construction,” Srivastava said.
This move prompted petitioner Prasun Goswami to file a contempt petition in the ongoing Suhas Chakma case, in which the interim order was passed.
During the hearing on Monday, the Rajasthan government apologised for “contempt of court”.
It was submitted on behalf of the state government that “If any decision or action by the government was not in consonance with the directions passed by this court, they tender an unconditional apology and further undertake that they shall abide by the directions passed by the court in the matter. They were also emphatic in their assurance to the court and said that ‘it shall follow all such further directions issued by the court from time to time’.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta presented a map showing the area that will be left for the Open Jail. He said that an additional 14,940 square metres of land would be left for the open jail after 2.2 hectares were taken for the satellite hospital.
The state government took an undertaking that no construction of the hospital would be carried out until the complete relocation of the prisoners’ homes was accomplished.
The petitioners argued that they were not against the 300-bed hospital but were against the reduction in the existing area of the Open Jail, as they believed this move was not in the interest of the prisoners.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for December 16.