HC orders to appoint doctors to vacant posts in prisons

Staff Reporter :
The High Court on Tuesday said the prisoners detained in prisons across the country must be provided proper treatment if they feel sick as they have legal right to receive treatment.
During the hearing on a writ petition, the HC bench of Justice KM Kamrul Kader and Justice Mohammad Ali said, “The prisoners are usually kept detained in jails. It is not acceptable if they are not provided proper treatment when they become sick.”
Md JR Khan Robin, a Supreme Court lawyer, filed the petition on February 18 in 2019 seeking necessary directives on this issue.
The bench also asked the authorities concerned of the government to appoint doctors on deputation to vacant posts a the prisons in order to provide treatment to prisoners and to submit a report after complying with the order by December 11 before it.
Petitioner JR Khan Robin said that there are reportedly only four doctors for 68 prisons where around 87,000 prisoners are kept. Total 137 posts of doctors in the prisons are reportedly lying vacant now, he added.
Deputy Attorney General Abdullah Al Mahmud Bashar represented the state, while lawyer Shafiqul Islam appeared for Inspector General of Prisons during the hearing on Tuesday.