"Complete disregard for human rights, what is the point of seminars:" Supreme Court on delay in transfer of POCSO convict to hometown

The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up the States of Nagaland and Maharashtra for not acting on a sexual assault convict's request to be transferred from a Nagaland jail to one near his hometown at Nashik so as to enable him to meet his family and consult lawyers [Shinde Mohan Kalu vs State of Nagaland and anr]..A Bench of Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Krishna Murari found force in the submissions of the petitioner that he was facing difficulties in communicating with jail officials and lawyers in Nagaland due to language barrier."He probably only speaks in the local dialect of his district, must be having difficulty in communicating with anyone there," the Bench remarked.The Court posted the matter for further hearing tomorrow, after hinting at imposing costs of ₹10 lakh per day on the two States, if the transfer is delayed further. "There is a complete disregard for human rights. Arrange a chartered plane if needed, but let him meet his family ... What is the point of having so many seminars etc on this if we do not implement human rights on the ground level?" Justice Maheshwari remarked. Counsel for Maharashtra, advocate Sachin Patil, submitted that the earlier condition that there ought to be no pending cases against the petitioner to allow transfer, has been done away with and the transfer will happen. "Sometimes we sound harsh, we cannot help it when these questions are raised," Justice Maheswari responded.Counsel for Nagaland, advocate K Enatoli Sema, said that the request has been acceded to, after which the Bench asked that the States to work out the modalities for the transfer by tomorrow. .The petitioner, an army man, was sentenced to five years in jail through a court martial in Nagaland for the aggravated sexual assault of a minor. He is currently lodged at the Kohima Central Jail.He completed nearly two years in prison without meeting his kin, the plea filed through and drawn by advocate Astha Sharma said. The petitioner had to move the top court after the Maharashtra Home Department failed to act on his representation for months.It was contended that the petitioner was facing difficulties in communicating with jail officials and lawyers in Nagaland jail due to the language barrier."(He) not been able to meet his family members or any friends, owing to the restrictions first imposed by the custody, then by the Covid-19 Pandemic, and now since he is lodged at Kohima, Nagaland, which is at a distance of approximately 3000 Kms from his home town of Nashik, and which distance, is not possible for his aged and ailing parents or any of the relatives residing and working in Maharashtra to travel to owing to financial impediments," the petition said.He, therefore, sought transfer to a jail near his home district of Nashik, specifically Pune's Yerwada Jail, so as to better exercise his rights towards legal representation, appeal etc. The plea relied on the the top court's decision in Sunil Batra (II) v Delhi Administration and the Transfer of Prisoners Act to emphasise the rights of visitation by family and counsel, available to those behind bars.