SURAT SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS criminal writ petition has been filed by 22 persons who were convicted for different offences by different Courts of the State. They are inmates of Borstal Institution, Ludhiana. They filed the present petition for issuing of an appropriate writ or direction to the jail authorities, firstly that the petitioners be given Better Class facilities and secondly, they may not be transferred to an ordinary jail from the aforesaid Borstal Institution.

(2.) A detailed reply has been filed on behalf of the respondents. It has been stated that on account of the training imparted and the education given to the petitioners, they had become entitled to B. Class facilities and all those facilities were being given to them. It was further stated that the age group of persons who are supposed to be kept in Borstal Institution was 16 to 21. Except petitioner at Serial No. 20, the remaining petitioners had crossed the age of 21 and were required to be transferred to other jails in accordance with the decision of the Government Annexure Rl. It was further stated that petitioner No. 13 had already been released on bail on 24.5.1989 and qua him the petition should be disposed of as infructuous.

(3.) THE sole question surviving for consideration is whether the Superintendent Jail or any other authority has the power to transfer an inmate of the Borstal Institution to an ordinary jail. In order to answer this question, I have examined the scheme and various provisions of the Punjab Borstal Act, 1926 and the rules framed the reunder. Various provisions of the Act unmistakably show that the Borstal Institutions were established for persons less than 21 years of age. A reference in this connection may be made to sections 5, 8 and 10(2) of the said Act. The study further shows that there is a clear distinction between the Borstal Institution, on the one hand and the ordinary jail on the other. The Legislature took care to use different words in the context of Borstal Institutions, for instance, section 32 of the said Act, while making Chapter XI of the Prisons Act, 1894 applicable to Borstal Institutions, took care that all references to prisoners, imprisonment or confinement in the said Chapter shall be construed as referring to inmates, Borstal Institutions and detentions, Section 20 is very significant and may be reproduced in extenso as under :-