Delhi High Court issues notice in a plea challenging the Delhi Prison Rules, 2018

The Delhi High Court has issued notice in a plea challenging the constitutional validity of Delhi Prison Rules, 2018. The Rules came into force from October 1, 2018..Notice was issued to the Delhi Government and the Lieutenant Governor by a Division Bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Anup J Bhambhani in a writ petition filed by the petitioner in person Amit Sahni..It is the Petitioner’s case that the Delhi Prison Rules are unconstitutional as they were notified by the Delhi Government without seeking the approval of the Delhi L-G..“It is an open secret that the approval of Respondent No.2 (Hon’ble LG) was not taken by the Respondent No.1 while passing the DP Rules, 2018, therefore the same are liable to be set aside.”.The Petitioner has stated that the Delhi Prison Rules, 2018 have thus been passed in violation of the Delhi Prison Act, 2000 as well as Article 239AA of the Constitution of India..It is further submitted that by virtue of Delhi Prison Rules, 2018, the Delhi Government has sought to override the previous Orders/Circulars/Notifications in respect of Parole/Furlough, Premature Release of Convicts etc, which were notified after due deliberation with the L-G..The Petitioner has also stated that the new Rules have completely overlooked the welfare of Jail Cadre’s officers as well as the old convicts by ignoring the Model Prison Manual..The Petitioner further states that the Delhi Prison Rules, 2018 could not have done away the outer limit of 20 and 25 years for two classes of life convicts for early release, as suggested by the NHRC in 2003 and incorporated in a 2004 Sentence Review Board order which was passed after due deliberations with the L-G..The matter would be heard next on September 2.