Tihar inmates using RTI to access their sentence information and diet entitlement

Tihar Jail

Inmates at the Tihar Central Prison are using the Right to Information to get information on their ration entitlements, remaining days of their confinements and accessing their medical records.

The prison headquarters where the administrative work of the jail is processed receives about two RTI queries every day. As reported by Hindustan Times, in December the prison administration got 70 RTI queries and in January the number was 59.

As per the report, most inmates use the Right to Information to inquire about the number of days left of their sentence, food entitlements and missing facilities.

The RTI application can be availed by inmates for free, unlike the general public which has to pay a minimal amount to the concerning department.

There is no dearth of help for inmates inside the jail either. Those who wish to file an RTI query for the first time are helped by inmates who have been inside the bars for quite some time.

The HT report, citing a prison officer, says that inmates like former Congress youth president Sushil Sharma, convicted for killing his wife in the so-called tandoor murder case who have been inside for more than 22 years help the newbies.

“Prisoners like Sharma have been behind bars for 22 years and have become well-versed in law and constitutional rights. They are like in-house lawyers for prisoners, helping them with their court cases, and especially in getting information from RTI,” an officer said.

Some inmates also persist if their initial RTI query is not answered and do not refrain from approaching information commission. A similar incident happened last year in January when an inmate did not get information on prescribed diet.

“We share whatever information can be shared and treat inmates at par with citizens outside,” Raj Kumar, additional inspector general and spokesperson for the prison said.