The Centre has extended the Punjab Police and Correctional Services Act, 2006, to the Union Territory of Chandigarh, introducing provisions for the transfer of prisoners between states and Union territories and changes to the functioning of the prison administration.
The notification, issued under Section 87 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, extends the Punjab legislation to the Union Territory of Chandigarh with certain modifications, according to a notification issued by the Union Home Ministry on Friday.
The amended provisions deal with the transfer of prisoners between Chandigarh and other states or Union territories.
Under the provisions, prisoners serving sentences in Chandigarh, including life imprisonment, may be transferred to prisons in another state or Union territory with the consent of the government concerned and an order issued by the Chandigarh administrator.
New provisions for transfer of undertrial prisoners
The amendments also provide for the transfer of undertrial prisoners in the interest of Chandigarh’s security, maintenance of law and order or public interest, subject to the consent of the government of the receiving state or Union territory.
"Where a prisoner is confined in a prison in the Union territory of Chandigarh under a sentence of imprisonment or death, or in default of payment of a fine or of giving security for keeping the peace or maintaining good behaviour, the Government may, with the consent of the Government of the other State or Union territory concerned, by order, provide for the transfer of such prisoner to a prison in that State or Union territory, or for the transfer of a prisoner from a prison in that State or Union territory to a prison in the Union territory of Chandigarh," the notification said.
In the case of undertrial prisoners, the amendments allow their transfer from Chandigarh to another state or Union territory with the consent of the governments concerned and approval of the court before which the trial is pending.
The amendments also provide that the operation of an aerial object within the “No-Fly Zone” may be undertaken only with the requisite permission from the competent authority under the law governing civil aviation and prior approval of the Department.