Does Jail Superintendent have right to withhold letters to and from accused? Wives of Bhima Koregaon accused move Bombay High Court

Wives of Bhima Koregaon accused Dr Anand Teltumbde and Vernon Gonsalves have approached the Bombay High Court alleging that Superintendent of Taloja Central Prison, where the accused are presently lodged, has been withholding letters sent to and received from their family members (Rama Teltumbde & Anr v. State & Ors.).The petitioners Rama Anand Teltumbde and Susan Abraham Gonsalves raised grievance that letters which were supposed to be posted, were either withheld or posted belated.Further, no response was received on the letters sent by them. The petitioners alleged that this act by the Superintendent was deliberate and malicious..In view of the circumstances, the petitioners submitted that the Superintendent had "throttled the basic rights of the prisoners" and with no other alternative, they were forced to approached the High Court with the present petition. .A Bench of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar issued notice to the respondents and posted the matter for hearing on July 14, 2021..The petition filed through advocate R Satynarayanan sought directions to the Superintendent of Taloja Central Prison to permit all the accused in the Special Case no. 414 of 2020 in relation to the Bhima Koregaon incident to write and receive letters from their advocates and family members.The petitioners also sought quashing of the decision of the Superintendent in imposing restrictions on writing or receiving letters of the accused..The two accused have been charged under offences of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in relation the Bhima Koregaon violence that broke out in 2018. The Special Court dealing with the cases being investigated by the National Investigating Agency, is conducting the trial..In March 2021, Dr. Teltumbde had written an article in the Caravan magazine to which the Superintendent issued a Samaj Patra (akin to show cause notice) in April 2021 and Dr. Teltumbde responded to the same. When the accused requested for a copy of the Samaj Patra and his response, the Supreintendent did not furnish the same. Rama Teltumbde even applied through RTI, but she did not get any response to the same. .After this, the petitioners alleged, the Superintendent decided to "unilaterally and dictatorially impose a ban" on the accused and other 9 co-accused and withheld all communications and letters between the accused and their respective family members including advocates. The jail authority also sent two letters addressed from the accused Dr. Teltumbde to his advocate, wife and to the Special Court conducting the trial."This is nothing but a mischievous act resultant of act of vindictiveness," the petitioners stated..Satynarayanan called upon the Superintendent to lift the restrictions but received no response from him.The petitioners wrote to the Special Inspector of General Police (Prison)..The petitioners submitted that the Maharashtra Prisons (Facilities to Prisoners) Rules state that the right to communicate by way of letters is a statutory right and the manner in which it had been impaired is harsh, vindictive and unilaterally punitive.