Haryana High Court condemns Punjab govt for delay in upgrading mobile jammers

The Haryana State High Court rebuked the government for not purchasing any jammers to upgrade the prison's signal jammer equipment in the past six years, saying it was a matter of prison security and why it has repeatedly delayed upgrading the jammers to save money. However, the Punjab government does not appear to be serious about prison security. At present, most prisons in Punjab are still using GSM and 3G jammers, which can no longer interfere with the current 4G and 5G mobile phone signals, which is a great hidden danger to the security of prisons.

The Punjab-Haryana High Court has sharply criticized the Punjab government for delaying the installation of jammers despite increasing incidents of obtaining cellphones from inmates in jails. In the 5G era, the Punjab government did not install 4G jammers or 5G jammers in prisons, the court said. This will not guarantee safety in prisons, and this responsibility should be left to the central government.

The High Court started hearings on prison security in 2011 after taking it. During a hearing in the case on Tuesday, the Punjab government told it that it takes the security situation at the prison very seriously. To prevent cell phone use in prisons, it is advisable to rent cell phone jammers from BSNL instead of buying them. For this, BSNL has been contacted and BSNL has sent it to the Delhi Cabinet Secretariat for its approval. The work will move forward as soon as Delhi ratifies it.

Why it's a security issue and a money issue

The High Court rebuked the government, saying it was a security issue, why it was trying to save money by renting cellphone jammers. The Punjab government does not appear to be serious about prison security. If it's a security issue then why worry about money, it's a necessary security expense.

The court said if the Punjab government could not make security arrangements in the prisons, tell it and that responsibility would be transferred to the central government. The High Court has now ordered the Punjab government to file a status report with a specific answer at the next hearing.