OCO Order 16

धारा 16 · Correspondence and censorship

(1)

Detenus shall be allowed to write two and receive eight letters a week. The letters shall be limited to the members of the family of the detenus. The contents of the letter shall be limited to private matters and there shall be no reference to Jail Administration, discipline, other detenus or prisoners or politics. The Superintendent shall have the discretion to allow the detenus to send out special letters over this limit in case of absolute necessity up to two letters a week for each detenu.

(2)

Correspondence on non-domestic affairs shall be allowed by the Superintendent in consultation with the Superintendent of Police and Superintendent of Police, Special Branch. But if they disagree, the letter shall be forwarded to the Government for orders.

(3)

Telegrams shall count as letters. All letters from detenus shall be written in Form 'B' and shall not ordinarily exceed the prescribed length to be determined by the Superintendent, and detenus may, for this purpose, be supplied at the cost of the Government, with the necessary writing material.

(4)

Detenus may, with the permission of the Superintendent, substitute a letter and replay for an interview or vice versa.

(5)

Not more than one letter shall be enclosed in one envelope except with the permission of the Superintendent.

(6)

Any letter or communication received for detenus which are clearly franked to indicate that they come from the Government Office, excluding any local authority or body, shall be delivered to them and shall not be counted against the admissible number of letters received. All other letters to and from detenus shall be censored by the Superintendent and subject to any orders of the Government, shall be submitted by the Superintendent direct to the Superintendent of Police of the District or in his absence the Assistant or Deputy Superintendent of Police or other Officer nominated by the Superintendent of Police, Special Branch who may, at his discretion either forward the letters without delay or withhold them if they are, in his opinion, likely to be detrimental to public interest or safety. The contents of all letters shall be limited to private matters. In case of doubt, the Police Official referred to above shall refer the matter to the Superintendent of Police, Intelligence, or other Officer designated by the Government in this behalf.

(7)

As regards censorship of correspondence, there shall be a fairly liberal interpretation of the type of matter to be passed on to the detenus or communications from the detenus. A letter may be withheld altogether rather than be multilated beyond recognition.

(8)

Every letter forwarded to or from a detenu shall be initialled and dated by the officer censoring the letter under Sub-clause (6).

(9)

All letters, the despatch or delivery of which is withheld under Sub-clause (6) shall be sent to the Superintendent of Police, Special Branch or other Officer designated by the Government in this behalf, for retention or destruction at his discretion, and the fact of such withholding shall be intimated to the concerned detenu through the Superintendent. Any letter so withheld but retained may be delivered to the detenu after release.

(10)

If any communication made by or intended to be delivered to a detenu anything objectionable from the point of view of jail discipline is found by the Superintendent, he may omit the same or mark it for omission and mention what has been done when forwarding such communication to the Superintendent of Police of the District or in his absence to the Assistant or Deputy Superintendent of Police or other Officer nominated in this behalf. That authority may, notwithstanding anything hereinbefore contained, instead of withholding the delivery or despatch of a letter, despatch it after omitting any portion which in his opinion may be detrimental to public interest or the safety or the discipline of the jail.

(11)

The receipt and despatch of telegrams by detenus shall be subject to the same control as is hereinbefore provided for letters except that the number of telegrams which may be despatched by a detenu shall be within the discretion of the Superintendent. The cost of the telegrams should ordinarily be borne by the detenu concerned.

(12)

When a telegram is sent to or received from any Government, it shall be forwarded direct, provided the State Government shall always be the intermediary in correspondence with the Central Government or another State Government, and that the Superintendent has discretion to forward a petition submitted in telegraphic form by post instead of by telegram.

(13)

The detenu shall, when sending letters or telegrams, specify the full name and address and relationship to the writer of the addressee, and of each person mentioned in the letter or telegram, in the case of the former on the detachable portion of Form 'ET and in the case of the later, on a separate slip. The detached portion of Form 'B' or slip shall be sent to the Superintendent of Police, Special Branch or to other officer designated by the Government in this behalf who, if he considers that the writer should not be allowed to correspond with the addressee, shall inform the Superintendent for his future guidance.

(14)

In addition to the writing materials supplied under Sub-clause (3), a detenu who receives funds from outside may be allowed to purchase ordinary school exercise books for other writing purposes but the pages of such books shall be numbered and the detenu shall not destroy any such book or remove the pages thereof. The maximum number of exercise books with a detenu at any one time shall not exceed two. When he returns one note-book another may be issued to him.

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