Jaipur : Jaipur On the issue of the state government building a 300-bed satellite hospital in the country’s first open air jail located in Sanganer, the Supreme Court has expressed its intention to maintain the public welfare and open jail system of the hospital. A court commissioner has been appointed for spot inspection of the open jail complex and asked to submit a phased plan and report. The upcoming hearing has been postponed until the court commissioner’s report comes.
It is proposed to build a satellite hospital of 300 beds on 22000 square meter land.
The division bench of Justice BR Gavai and KV Vishwanathan gave this direction on the contempt petition of Prasun Goswami. The court has also asked the state government to ensure that the facilities of the open-air jail are also preserved in this construction work. The prisoners living in the jail will also have to be rehabilitated before construction. During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Advocate General Shiv Mangal Sharma, on behalf of the state government, said that the land allotted to the open jail is not being reduced. The total area of the open jail is 61,160 square meters. Out of this, 17,800 square meter land has been allotted for the open jail complex. The state government is proposed to allocate 14,940 square meters of land separately for the open jail. In the remaining land, satellite hospital will be constructed on only 22,000 square meters of land. The prisoners will be rehabilitated during the construction of the hospital.
At present 410 prisoners are living in the open jail. Earlier, the Supreme Court had told the state government not to try to reduce the land of open jail. In fact, it was said in the contempt petition that the division bench, by its order dated May 17, 2024, had asked the state government not to reduce the land of the open jail and to preserve this land which has been used for the open jail for six decades. But JDA has approved the allotment of satellite hospital on this land on 30 July 2024. The state government and JDA doing this is contempt of the Supreme Court order.
