A bench of Justices Sunil Shukre and Justice GA Sanap noted the State’s submission that the library contained only 2,850 books though the prison housed approximately 3,000 inmates.
“These are not a lot. Libraries are important for jail inmates. Not just fiction books, but spiritual books also. 2800 books is nothing. Even a secondary school will have more books,” Justice Shukre remarked.
The Court was hearing a plea by accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence, Gautam Navlakha praying praying that he be transferred from Taloja prison and placed under house arrest instead
Navlakha had earlier told the Court that a book by PG Wodehouse which was sent to him was returned from the prison twice before it was personally hand delivered to him.
The Bench enquired on Tuesday if the prison had other books by PG Wodehouse and Marathi humor author PL Deshpande.
Additional Public Prosecutor Sangeeta Shinde said that Taloja did not have Wodehouse.
“Why, is humour banished from prison?” Justice Shukre quipped
Source: Barandbench
