Punjab Prisons پنجاب جيل خانه جات |
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Agency overview | |
Formed | 1854 |
Employees | 12,912 |
Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
Jurisdictional structure | |
Operations jurisdiction* | Province of Punjab, Pakistan |
Size | 40 Jails in the province of Punjab |
Population | 50,519 inmates |
Legal jurisdiction | Punjab |
Primary governing body | Government of Punjab, Pakistan |
Secondary governing body | Home Department |
General nature |
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Operational structure | |
Headquarters | Lahore, Punjab |
Elected officer responsible | , Minister for Prisons, Punjab |
Agency executive | Mian Farooq Nazeer, Inspector General of Prisons, Punjab |
Facilities | |
Lockups | 32 Jails |
Footnotes | |
* Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. Note: It is the provincial department of Prisons in Punjab, Pakistan |
The Punjab Prisons are responsible for custody, control, care and correction (4 Cs) of prisoners confined in various Central, District and Special Jails in the province of Punjab (Pakistan).
The Punjab Prisons Department was established in 1854 for custody, control, care and correction (4 Cs) of prisoners confined in various Central, District and Special Jails in the province of Punjab and Dr. C. Hathaway was appointed as first Inspector General (IG). The Prisons Act of 1894 (Act No.IX of 1894) was passed by the Governor-General of India in Council which received the assent of the Governor General on 22 March 1894. The District Jail Sialkot (Since 1865), District Jail Shahpur District Sargodha (Since 1873), District Jail Jhelum (Since 1854), District Jail Rajanpur (Since 1860), Borstal Institution & Juvenile Jail Bahawalpur (Since 1882), District Jail Multan (Since 1872), District Jail Faisalabad (Since 1873) and Central Jail Gujranwala (Since 1854) in Punjab province and District Jail (now Juvenile Jail) Dadu (Since 1774) in Sindh province were even functional long before passing of the Prisons Act in 1894. At the time of independence, the Punjab inherited nineteen(19) jails whereas Twenty One(21) more jails have so far been commissioned in the province after independence. Presently there are Forty(40) Jails functional in the Province including One(1) High Security Prison, Nine(9) Central Jails, Twenty Five(25) District Jails, Two(2) Borstal Institutions & Juvenile Jails, One(1) Women Jail and Two(2) Sub Jails.
The management and superintendence of Prisons and all other matters relating to the prisoners are generally regulated under the following Laws / Rules:
Acts (1894 to 2006)
Rules and Regulations (1818 to 2010)
Ordinances
Besides above statutes, the following laws are relevant to the administration of prisons, prisoners and jail staffers.
Following table shows the up-to-date names and tenure of posting of Inspector General of Prisons, Punjab, since 1854.
Before 1981, the prison officers in all provinces of Pakistan used to wear khaki colour uniforms as worn by the Pakistan Army. During the regime of Chief Martial Law Administrator, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, some army officers objected to the wearing of army-type uniforms by the prison officials and suggested that the police type uniforms should be prescribed for them. Thus a meeting was held in the Federal Ministry of Interior, Islamabad, and the pattern of uniform for prison officials was changed from military to that of police. On 2 May 2009, Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr. Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry visited Central Jail Lahore. On 21 September 2009, on the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr, the Chief Justice visited Central Jail Rawalpindi. Besides passing various orders respecting management of prisons and prisoners during the said visits of jails, he issued verbal directions to the concerned authorities of Punjab Government for upgrading the pay scales of the prison officers in the Punjab and for doubling of their pay. Later, Khawaja Muhammad Sharif, Chief Justice, Lahore High Court, Lahore took suo moto notice of the case and issued directions to the provincial Government for the upgrading of posts of incumbents of the prisons department to make them at par with the equivalent ranks of Police. On 26 September 2009, Government of the Punjab, Home Department, Lahore issued notification through which the Pay Scales and Uniform Badges of Prison Officers in Punjab were made equivalent to the Punjab Police for all ranks.