Punjab Jail

[Katrine Freggiaro]

PunjabPolice Jail Warder Bharti 2024: The Punjab Sub-Ordinate Staff Selection Board (PSSSB) has released the notification on 26 July 2024 to fill out the 179 Jail Warder Vacancies. Get the Punjab Police Jail Warder Online Form 2024 + Notification PDF and eligibility criteria details in the blog. Punjab Police Jail Warder Recruitment 2024 Apply Online process starts from 29 July 2024 at the official website www.sssb.punjab.gov.in.

The Punjab Prisons is a correctional organization, a uniformed service and an attached department[7] of the provincial Home Department in Punjab, Pakistan. The organization works under administrative control of the Additional Chief Secretary Home to Government of the Punjab, Pakistan. Functional head of the organization is Inspector General of Prisons who manages 69 prisons in the province. The organization is responsible for custody, control, care and correction (4 Cs) of prisoners confined in various central, district and special jails in the province of Punjab, Pakistan).[8]

The Punjab Prisons Department was established in 1854 for custody, control, care and correction (4 Cs) of prisoners confined in various central, district and special jails in the province of Punjab and Dr. C. Hathaway was appointed as first Inspector General (IG).[8][9] The Prisons Act of 1894 (Act No.IX of 1894) was passed by the Governor-General of India in Council which received the assent of the Governor General on 22 March 1894. The District Jail Sialkot (Since 1865), District Jail Shahpur District Sargodha (Since 1873), District Jail Jhelum (Since 1854), District Jail Rajanpur (Since 1860), Borstal Institution & Juvenile Jail Bahawalpur (Since 1882), District Jail Multan (Since 1872), District Jail Faisalabad (Since 1873) and Central Jail Gujranwala (Since 1854) in Punjab province and District Jail (now Juvenile Jail) Dadu (Since 1774) in Sindh province were even functional long before passing of the Prisons Act in 1894.[10][11] At the time of independence, the Punjab inherited nineteen jails whereas Twenty-one more jails have so far been commissioned in the province after independence. Presently there are Forty Jails functional in the Province including One High Security Prison, Nine Central Jails, Twenty-five District Jails, Two Borstal Institutions & Juvenile Jails, One Women Jail and Two Sub Jails.

Following table shows the names, district of domicile, dates of birth, dates of joining, BPS, present postings and dates of superannuation of the serving DIG Prisons(OPS) in Punjab Prisons (Pakistan).[13]

Following table shows the names, district of domicile, dates of birth, dates of joining, BPS, present postings and dates of superannuation of the serving Superintendents of Jails in Punjab Prisons (Pakistan)according to the seniority list [13]

Before 1981, the prison officers in all provinces of Pakistan used to wear khaki colour uniforms as worn by the Pakistan Army. During the regime of Chief Martial Law Administrator, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, some army officers objected to the wearing of army-type uniforms by the officials of Forest Department, Prisons Department, Karachi Port Trust, Sea Customs, Land Customs, Excise & Taxation, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Police Qaumi Razakars, Airport Security Force (ASF), Merchant Navy /Marine Academy, Sergent and Deputy Sergent-at-Arms of the National Assembly and Senate Secretariats, Boy Scouts and Girl Guides in Pakistan. It was suggested that the police type uniforms should be prescribed for the officers and men of the Prisons Department. Thus, a meeting was held in the Federal Ministry of Interior, Islamabad, and the pattern of uniform for prison officials was changed from military to that of police. Following specific orders were passed by Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Interior in respect of Prisons Department:

It is worth-mentioning that the post of IG Prisons had been a BPS-20 post in 1981 i.e. equivalent to the post of DIG Police (BPS-20). Accordingly, Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Interior had directed that the badges of rank of the IG Prisons should be as worn by the DIG Police.

On 2 May 2009, Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr. Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry visited Central Jail Lahore. On 21 September 2009, on the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr, the Chief Justice visited Central Jail Rawalpindi. Besides passing various orders respecting management of prisons and prisoners during the said visits of jails, he issued verbal directions to the concerned authorities of Punjab Government for upgrading the pay scales of the prison officers in the Punjab and for doubling of their pay. Later, Khawaja Muhammad Sharif, Chief Justice, Lahore High Court, Lahore took suo moto notice of the case and issued directions to the provincial Government for the upgrading of posts of incumbents of the prisons department to make them at par with the equivalent ranks of Police. On 26 September 2009, Government of the Punjab, Home Department, Lahore issued notification through which the Pay Scales of Prison Officers in Punjab were made equivalent to the Punjab Police for all ranks and Uniform Allowance was also sanctioned for IG Prisons, DIG Prisons, and other ranks of the Punjab Prisons. After such up-gradation, officers of the Prisons Department in Punjab started wearing uniforms equivalent to their counterparts in the Police Department, in accordance with the spirit of the Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Interior's letter No.4/2/78-Public dated 28 July 1981, Government of the Punjab, Home Department, Lahore's letter No.PRS-I(6)7/76-Vol-III dated 10 August 1981 addressed to the Inspector General of Prisons, Punjab, Lahore, Syed Shafqat Ullah Shah, Inspector General of Prisons, Punjab, Lahore's letter No.EB/U.2.I/29847-74 dated 19 August 1981 captioned "UNIFORM" addressed to the Superintendents of all jails in the Punjab as well as Pakistan Prison Rules 1978, Chapter No.48 - Uniforms, pending such specific notification by the provincial government.[25] Inspector General of Prisons, Punjab has moved a summary to Chief Minister Punjab through Additional Chief Secretary (Home) for replacement of the existing Rule 1204 in accordance with the table below, and repealing the Rules 1205 and 1206 of Pakistan Prison Rules 1978.[26]

The jails in the province of Punjab were grouped into four circles for the purpose of the appointment, promotion and transfer of warders and for better organization.[27] In 2004, these circles were replaced with regions with independent regional offices (detached from Headquarter Jails). At present, prisons regions have been established at Lahore, Multan, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Bahawalpur and Sargodha. Case for establishment of two more regions at Gujranwala and Dera Ghazi Khan has also been initiated.

Sidhu was all praise for prisons department officials for working hard to introduce the novel system which he said would usher in improvements in overall eco-system of the jails, leading to better behavior by inmates and strengthen family bonds. Sidhu said the initiative was likely to be scaled up by constructing more infrastructure and rooms in jails for such visits. The conjugal visits on Tuesday were arranged in a dedicated room, away from area which houses inmates, but within the jail premises, with an attached bathroom.

To avail a meeting, an inmate, either a convict or under-trial with good conduct, needs to submit a request to the concerned jail superintendent and following a laid down procedure and subject to meeting the criteria, the visit is allowed.

The newly formed special investigation team (SIT) probing a drug nexus from the Ferozepur Central Jail, which involves a controversy of 42,000 mobile phone calls being made from inside prisons by inmates lodged in drug cases, have arrested 11 people in connection with the case, including seven serving and retired jail officials, a senior Punjab Police official privy to the probe said on Tuesday.

The new investigation team led by AIG J. Elanchezhian, counter intelligence, Punjab, who is camping in Ferozepur for further investigation of the case, made the arrests in the past couple of days, the official said.

According to information, the prison officials, arrested in the case, actively helped the accused inmates in using mobile phones inside the jail premises and did not taken action when mobile phones were recovered from the inmates and also aided supply and consumption of drugs, including heroin and opium, in the Ferozepur jail in lieu of bribe paid to them.

The active connivance of jail officials with inmates led to the drug racket in the jail for which jail officials used to take bribe from inmates and associates, the official said, adding the calls made out of jail are being examined and bank details in which the drug money was deposited are also being scrutinised by the investigation team.

The arrested jail officials have been identified as assistant superintendent at Faridkot jail Gurtej Singh, warder at Malerkotla jail Nachhatar Singh, and retired officials, including warder Naib Singh, assistant superintendent Nirpal Singh, assistant superintendent Kashmir Chand, head warder Surjeet Singh and head warder Balkar Singh.

Earlier, during the initial investigation of the case, four accused, namely Raj Kumar, Sonu alias Tiddi, Neeru Bala and Amrik Sigh, resident of Palla Mega in Ferozepur, were arrested by the new SIT formed recently to probe the case by replacing the previous SIT.

A case was filed at SSOC police station, Fazilka, against five persons, including Raj Kumar, Sonu, Neeru, Geetanjali, and Amrik for allegedly selling drugs inside the Ferozepur jail by procuring them from outside the jail and by connivance with jail officials.

It was after Punjab and Haryana high court rapped the state police and prisons department in the case, special DGP, internal security, Punjab, on December 12, 2023, transferred the investigation of the case to the new SIT. A team of police officials from counter intelligence, Ferozepur unit, is also attached with the police officer for investigation purpose. Section 7 and 13A of Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 52A of Prisons Act (Punjab Amendment) were added during the course of investigation.

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