Ernakulam : The NIA Special court order on June 14th permitting an accused in a UAPA case at Central Prison to grow beard citing religious beliefs has led to a series of discussion and debate over the requirement of maintaining a ‘uniformity’ among the inmates and religious beliefs of the prisoners.
The case-in-point is the NIA special court order on June 14th where the UAPA accused, M Sahad has sought permission of the court to grow his beard as per religious beliefs.
The accused in the petition stated that he is professing Muslim religion and has the right to follow the customs and rites of the religion. According to him he cannot shave his beard as per the religious customs and hence requested the court to grant him the permission.
Though prison regulations permit inmates to grow beards in accordance with their religious beliefs, there has been a concerning trend of prisoners citing such beliefs to grow long beards, raising issues regarding jail discipline and hygiene. The court also heard the Superintendent of Police, Central prison who stated that maintenance of hygiene and discipline among the prisoners is necessary while in the jail. The SP also mentioned that if he had been following his religious beliefs, he should have made a request while he entered the jail under the Prisons and Correctional rules 292(A).
A senior official from the department said, “We allow exceptions for religious purposes, such as the Sabarimala pilgrimage season or Ramadan fasting. However, a growing number of prisoners, especially those involved in cases under the National Investigation Agency, are deliberately growing beards under the pretext of religious beliefs. This trend is problematic for maintaining jail discipline and hygiene.” He also added that the government should enforce the law to address this issue and noted that there is currently no exclusive register on the number of prisoners growing beards.
The officer pointed out that instead of keeping normal beards, they intentionally maintain long ones causing issues for other inmates. At the same time, Alexander Jacob, former Director General of Prisons said that there are no restrictions for growing a beard inside the jail as per their beliefs.
Sahad, who obtained an order to grow a beard from the NIA Special Court Ernakulam submitted that he is professing the Muslim religion and has the right to follow the customs and rites of the religion.
The order read : “As per the religious belief he is not supposed to shave his beard, but, the jail authorities are not permitting him to grow his beard and compelling the petitioner to cut and shave his beard. The insistence on cutting and shaving the beard is against his beliefs. As per Rule 292(1) of the Kerala Prisons and Correctional Services (Management) Rules, the petitioner has the right to grow his beard. The petitioner seeks a direction from the Superintendent of Central Prison, Viyyur to permit the petitioner to grow his beard”.
The court said that the argument that the inmate was not growing his beard at the time of his admission to the jail is not a ground to deny the right. As other prisoners of the same religion are permitted to grow their beards, such a right cannot be denied to him. “So, I am of the view that the petitioner can be permitted to grow his beard, subject to the restrictions, if any, in the relevant statutes,” stated the Special Judge.
TP Senkumar, the former DGP of the state who spoke to TV9 said that there should be uniformity when it comes to attire and growing the beard and law should be equal for all.
“I have not gone through the details of the order, but I am of the view that the jail rules that stipulate that all inmates to shave their beard while in jail should be applied for everyone”, said TP Senkumar.
The NIA Special court order on June 14th permitting an accused in a UAPA case at Central Prison to grow beard citing religious beliefs has led to a series of discussion and debate over the requirement of maintaining a ‘uniformity’ among the inmates and religious beliefs of the prisoners. Kerala States News India: Top News India, States News, States News Headlines, Online State News India, State Politics news
