Jailed Balwa may get iPAD sans net

The Delhi High Court asks Tihar authorities to consider his request

Jailed Balwa may get iPAD sans net

The Delhi High Court asks Tihar authorities to consider his request

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Balwa on Tuesday sought the high court's permission to keep an iPad in his cell at his own expense. He also said that he should be allowed to have vegetarian home cooked food as per the jail manual. The court allowed him to have vegetarian home cooked food twice a week. "Due to voluminous documentation filed by the investigation agency, we are unable to keep copies of the entire charge sheet," said his application. "This lack of access to the material is causing grave prejudice and is against my constitutionally protected right to free and fair trial. ..... (It) stops me from preparing my defence or even prepare for the stage of consideration of charge," his plea said.

Asif pleaded that he be permitted to carry electronic copies of the charge sheet and the related documents filed by the investigating agency. According to Tihar officials, the plea was unique. Tihar Jail spokesperson Sunil Gupta said allowing such plea would be a great security concern. Opposing Balwa's plea, Tihar Jail counsel argued that if such pleas are allowed, every accused will request for the same. The law should be same for all.
"There is no problem in allowing the iPad but the only fear is that it might be misused inside the jail," the Tihar counsel said. An IT expert said: "For accessing Internet on the iPad all you need is a pre-activated SIM card, which can be easily bought inside the jail in eatables, shoes and other items, so disabling the same won't solve any purpose." The court said, "The IT department will also inform the jail authorities about how to detect the instrument if it is misused."

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