The Sindh High Court has made the biometric verification of all new prisoners compulsory. The prisoners will have to submit their CNICs to the jail authorities.
The prison and government departments will have to maintain the criminal records of all the prisoners. Contempt proceedings will be initiated against those who fail to follow the orders, the court said
The court passed these orders while hearing a petition on “fake prisoners” in Sindh jails.The Sindh home ministry, prisons IG, and Legal AIG submitted their reports on Thursday.
On November 3, a report revealed that no prison in Sindh has a biometrics system. Seven prisons, including Naushahro Feroze and Hyderabad’s, lack proper staff and computers. The biometrics system is limited to meetings and plans.Sindh government’s lawyer Shahryar Mehr said that a biometrics system is being installed at prisons. “It will help monitor the prisoners,” he said.“The prisoners used to connive with the jail authorities to put fake prisoners in their place for years,” he said. This will not happen anymore, he added.
The Ansar Burney Trust had filed the petition in 2013.
