Published vide in Delhi Gazette, Extra-ordinary Part 4, No. 76 dated 18th April, 1988, vide Notification No. F. 9/75/87. Home (General) (8), in exercise of the powers conferred under clauses (24) and (28) of Section 59 of the Prisons Act, 1894 (9 of 1894) by the Administrator of the Union Territory of Delhi.

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Short title and commencement.- (1) These rules may be called the Delhi Prisons (Prisoners' Welfare Fund, Appeals, Petitions. Interviews and Communications) Rules, 1988.

(2) They shall come into force at once.

Prisoners' Welfare Fund
Name of the fund.- There shall be a fund called the 'Prisoners Welfare Fund' for each prison.
Object of the fund.- The object of the Fund is to give:—

(i) Aid to prisoners in the various items of collective welfare activities in the jail during the period of imprisonment, such as education, recreational, vocational etc.

(ii) Aid to deserving prisoners in shape of money grants; and

(iii) Aid to individual prisoners for equipment for trade or clothing at the time of release

Sources of income.- The fund shall be raised mainly from voluntary contributions from prisoners, donations from public or any other source approved by the Administrator.
Administration of the Fun.- (a) The fund shall be administered by the Executive Committee consisting of the following members in respect of each Jail :—

(i)	The Superintendent	—	Chairman.
(ii)	Deputy Supdt	—	Secretary.
(iii)	Medical Officer,	—	Member.
(iv)	Asstt. Superintendent	—	Member.
(v)	Chief Head Warder	—	Member.
(vi)	Account Officer	—	Treasure.
(vii)	Two convict Officers	—	Member

(b) (i) The members referred to at serial number (vii) of the sub-clause ;(a) should be nominated by the Superintendent for a period of one year.

(ii) To become eligible for nomination the prisoner must have :

(1) undergone at least one year's imprisonment with very good record on the date of nomination ; and

(2) at least one year's sentence still to undergo on the date of nomination.

(iii) Detenues and unconvicted criminal prisoners should not be eligible for being nominated as representatives on the committee.

Meeting of the Committee.- (1) The Committee shall meet once every month and earlier if the chairman considers it desirable for adequate reasons to be recorded in the minutes book.

(2) Two-third of the total number of the committee shall form the quorum.

(3) The Secretary should receive written requests from the prisoners desiring to have aid from the fund and place them before the committee. The decision of the Chairman shall be final. The chairman should ensure that aid is not given where not really needed.

(4) The minutes of the meeting shall be recorded in the book.

(5) The Chairman may, however, grant monetary help from the fund to those prisoners whose cases could not be placed before the Committee and who require help urgently:

Provided that the amount of such help does not exceed Rs. 50/- in each case and in aggregate Rs. 250/- during the period intervening two meetings of the committee.

Method of collection and accounting.- (1) A sealed wooden box shall be kept at a conspicuous place between the two gates of the jail to collect voluntary contributions which could not be made over personally to the Secretary or the treasurer. The key of the box shall always be in the personal custody of the Chairman. The box shall be sealed under the signature of all the members of the Committee thereon so that the box cannot be opened by any one else. The box should be opened on the first of every month in the presence of at least 2/3 members of the committee, and the cash collected therein should be handed over to the treasurer for being credited to the account of the fund. A report about the amount found in the box, the names of the members present etc. should be recorded in the minutes book, under the signature of the Chairman.

(2) All amounts received by the Secretary and or the Treasurer shall be immediately accounted for and a regular receipt passed to those who pay the amount personally.

(3) Money in excess of Rs. 100 shall be deposited in the personal ledger account already opened in the name of the Superintendent by keeping a subsidiary account separate from other accounts within the same personal ledger account.

(4) Proper accounts of receipts and expenditure shall be maintained by the Treasurer and checked by the Secretary. The account shall comprise of cash book, ledger, receipt book and ledger, contingency register, vouchers and minutes book etc.

(5)(a) Transactions of receipts and expenditure shall be entered in the relevant register immediately as soon as they take place.

(b) Vouchers shall be defaced, numbered consecutively for the year in order of payment and filled on a separate file kept for the purpose.

(d) On the last day of each month, the Chairman shall conduct the physical verification of the cash in hand and balance in the passbook. He shall also check the vouchers and ensure about the correctness of the accounts maintained by the Treasurer and record a certificate of such verification in the relevant registers under his own signature in token of the proof of conducting such physical verification.

Checking of Accounts by Audit.- The accounts shall be got audited every year from the Dte. of Audit Delhi Administration, Delhi. The account shall be maintained on financial year basis (i.e. w.e.f. 1st April to 31 March).
Submission of half yearly reports.- The Superintendent of Prison shall submit a half yearly report (April to September and October to March) to the Deputy Inspector General of Prisons indicating the activities, initial balance in the fund, the details of disbursements from the fund and the final balance in the fund. The Deputy Inspector General of Prisons shall examine the report and submit the same to the Inspector General of Prisons with his comments/views not later than the last day of November and the last day of May. every year.
Appeals and Petitions
Prisoner to be given facilities for appealing.- Every convict shall, on first admission to jail, be informed of the period as per provisions prescribed in Limitation Act. 1967 within which an appeal from the order under which he has been committed to jail may be filed, if he so desires. If he desires. every facility shall be grunted to him for the purpose. A request to be allowed to appeal, made at any time within the period allowed by law for the purpose, shall if the period is about to expire, be forthwith attended to, but, if there is no urgency, the preparation of tli3 appeal may be postponed to such day of the week as the Superintendent may from time to time fix in that behalf.
Interview for the purpose of appealing.- Every convict shall be allowed reasonable opportunities of personally interviewing his relatives, friends and legal advisers, for the purpose of preparation of his appeal petition.
Prohibition against writing appeals without permission.- No prisoner or officer of the jail shall prepare, write out or submit any appeal or petition on behalf of any prisoner without the previous permission, in writing of the Superintendent.
Appeal for a prisoner who has no friend or agent.- (1) If a prisoner desires to appeal and declares that he has no relative, friend or agent who is willing to make an appeal for him, the Superintendent shall forthwith apply for a copy of the judgment or order relating to such prisoner from which he desires to appeal.

(2) On receipt of the copy of the judgment or order, the prisoner shall, if he is able to write, be allowed to write, his own appeal. If the prisoner is not able to write, the Superintendent shall cause his appeal to be written for him by another prisoner or by a jail official.

(3) A prisoner or official deputed to write an appeal, shall do so at the appellant's dictation, and shall neither make any suggestions to the prisoner as to what should be stated, nor add anything to what the prisoner himself desires to have stated in the appeal.

(4) The Superintendent shall forward the appeal, with a copy of the judgment or order appealed from, to the Appellate Court with the files of the case.

(5) If, after the receipt of the copy of the judgment or order, a relative, friend or agent of the prisoner undertakes to make the appeal on his behalf and the prisoner consents to that course, the copy of the judgment shall be delivered to such relative, friend or agent as the case may be.

(6) The provisions of this rule shall, as far as may be, apply to petitions for revision or clemency and the like.

Note 1: The Superintendent is not justified in refusing to forward the appeal of any prisoner whether it is barred by limitation or not.

Note 2: An appeal made by the Superintendent on behalf of a prisoner should, before despatch, be read over to the appellant in the presence of the Superintendent, who shall, if the prisoner approves of the appeal, countersign the document and cause the official seal of the jail to be stamped thereon.

When an appeal is not desires.- If any prisoner states that he does desire to appeal, the fact shall be recorded on his history ticket.
Prisoners not to be transferred pending appeal.- With the exception of such classes of prisoners for whom transfer orders are from time to time issued, convicts who have not completed their term of appeals without appealing or until their appeals have been disposed of should not ordinarily be transferred to another jail without the special sanction of the Inspector-General.
Appeals of prisoners transferred.- When any communication relating to the appeal of a prisoner, who has been transferred, is received, it shall be forwarded without delay by registered post to the Superintendent of the Jail in which the prisoner is confined after noting the same in Register No. 2 of the Jail from which the prisoner has been transferred.
Reminders enquiring the result of appeal.- If the result of an appeal to the Sessions Judge is not communicated within one month, or in the case of an appeal to the High Court, within three months of the date on which such appeal was submitted, the Superintendent shall send a reminder to the Court concerned and repeat the same at reasonable intervals until it is known. The result of an appeal shall, when received, be communicated to the prisoner concerned and entered in his history-ticket and Admission Register.
Procedure when a Court directs the retrial of a prisoner.- If an Appellate Court directs that a prisoner be retired and a warrant for his release on bail or for bis custody pending trial is not at the same time received, the prisoner, shall, unless he has a sentence on another warrant to undergo, be remanded to the ward for unconvicted prisoners and the Superintendent shall apply to the Court for a warrant for his custody pending trial.
Petition for clemency.- Every prisoner shall be at liberty to move a petition for clemency, and should he so desires, be afforded reasonable facilities for preparing and submitting such a petition. All such petitions shall be accompanied by the copies of judgment.
Prisoner sentenced to death.- For prisoners sentenced to death, the instructions given on the subject in the next chapter shall be followed.

III. Interviews and Communications

General Rules for the grant of interviews and communications.- (1) Every newly convicted prisoner shall be allowed reasonable facilities for seeing or communicating with his relatives or friends with a view to the preparation of an appeal or to the procuring of bail, and shall also be allowed to have interviews or write letters to his friends once or twice, or often if the Superintendent considers it necessary, to enable him to arrange for the management of his property or other family affairs.

(2) Every prisoner committed to prison in default of payment of a fine or of finding security under Chapter VIII of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 shall be allowed to communicate by letter and to have interviews at any reasonable time with his relatives or friends for the purpose of arranging for the payment of the fine or for furnishing of security.

(3) Every prisoner under sentence of death shall be allowed such interviews and other communications with his relatives, friends and legal advisers as the Superintendent thinks reasonable.

Rules for grant of interviews and communication to and by convict.- In addition to the privileges granted in rule 21 above, every convicted prisoner shall be allowed to have two interviews with his relatives or friends and to write two letters a week during the terms of his imprisonment;

Provided that the exercise of this privilege shall be contingent on good conduct and may be withdrawn or postponed by the Superintendent for bad conduct.

Exception to General Rules.- The Superintendent may at his discretion grant interviews or allow the despatch or receipt of letters at shorter intervals than provided in rule 22 or inspite of the prisoner's misconduct if he considers that special or urgent grounds exist for such concession, as for example, in the event of the prisoner being seriously ill or on the occurrence of the death of a near relative or if the friends or relatives have come from a distance to see the prisoner and it would inflict an undue hardship on them to refuse an interview, or if the prisoner is nearing release and wishes to secure employment or for other sufficient cause. Matters of importance, such as the death or serious illness of a close relative may also be communicated at any time by the friends of a prisoner to the Superintendent who will, if he thinks it expedient, inform the prisoner of the substance of the communication.
interviews or communications to take place with the sanction of Superintendent.- No convicted prisoner shall be allowed to have an interview or to receive or write a letter except with the permission of the Superintendent.
Application for interview to be oral or in writing.- Applications for interviews with prisoners may be oral or in writing at the discretion of the Superintendent. If the prisoner is not entitled to an interview, the applicant shall be informed at once.
Persons granted an interview may be searched.- Every person desiring to hold an interview with any prisoner, before such interview is allowed to take place or he is allowed to enter the jail or is called upon by the Deputy Superintendent so to do, shall give his name and address and submit to be searched ;

Provided that no such search shall be made in the presence of any prisoner or person other than the proper officers of the jail, and, in the case of a female visitor, that such search shall be conducted by the Matron or a female warder. If the visitor refuses to submit to be searched or to give his name or address, he shall not be permitted to enter the jail or to have an interview with any prisoner.

Search of visitors.- (1) The Deputy Superintendent may demand the name and address of any visitor to a prisoner, and, when the Deputy Superintendent has any ground for suspicion, may search any visitor, or cause him to be searched, but the search shall not be made in the presence of any prisoner or of another Visitor.

(2) In the case of any such visitor refusing to permit himself to be searched, the Deputy Superintendent may deny him admission, and the grounds of such proceeding, with the particulars thereof, shall be entered in the Deputy Superintendent's journal.

Time and days of interview.- The Superintendent shall fix the days and hours at which all interviews shall be allowed and no interviews shall be allowed at any other time except with the special permission of the Superintendent. A notice of the hours of interviews shall be pasted outside the jail.
Places of interviews.- Every interview shall take place in a special part of the jail appointed for the purpose, if possible at or near the main gate;

Provided that if a prisoner is seriously ill, the Superintendent may permit the interview to take place in the hospital, and a condemned or security risk prisoner shall ordinarily be interviewed in his cell;

Provided further that the Superintendent may, for special reasons to be recorded in writing, permit an interview to take place in any part of the jail.

Interview to take place in the presence of a jail officer.- Every interview with a convicted prisoner shall take place in the presence of a jail officer who shall be responsible to see that no irregularity occurs, and who shall be so placed as to be able to see and hear what passes and to prevent any article being passed between the parties.
Termination of interview.- Any interview may be terminated at any moment if the officer present considers that sufficient cause exists. In every such case the reason for terminating the interview shall be reported at once.
Duration of interview.- The time allowed for an interview shall not ordinarily exceed 30 minutes, but may be extended by the Superintendent at his discretion.
Search of prisoner before and after interview.- Every prisoner shall be carefully searched before and after an interview.
Procedure as to the delivery of letters.- No letter shall be delivered to or sent by a prisoner until it has been examined by the Superintendent or by the Deputy Superintendent or other officer under the Superintendent's orders, but no unnecessary delay should be allowed to occur in delivery or despatch. If a letter is written in a language unknown to the Superintendent, he shall take steps to procure a translation before forwarding the letter. No letter written in chipher .. shall be allowed. The Superintendent may withhold any letter which seems to him to be in any way improper or objectionable, or may erase any improper or objectionable passages,
Detention or return of letters received for prisoners.- If a letter is addressed to a prisoner who is not entitled under the rules to receive it, it may, unless the Superintendent determines to communicate it under rule 23, be withheld and kept in the Superintendent's custody until the prisoner is entitled to receive it or is released, when it shall be delivered to him, unless it is improper or objectionable; or it may be returned to the sender with an intimation that the prisoner is not entitled to receive it.
Custody of letters received by prisoner.- A convict may retain any letter which has been delivered to him with the due authority unless the Superintendent otherwise directs, or may ask that it be kept for him.
Provision of writing material.- (1) Writing material including service postcard and service stamps shall be supplied • to convicts, under trials and civil prisoners on the scale of one service stamps twice a month.

(2) Expenses of postage for additional letters, permissible under the rules shall be borne by the prisoners themselves.

Superintendent may refuse any interview.- A Superintendent may refuse to allow any interview to which a prisoner would ordinarily be entitled under these rules, but in every such case, if, in his opinion, it is expedient in the public interests to allow any particular person to interview a prisoner or if other sufficient cause exists, he shall record his reasons for such refusal in his journal.
Abuse of privilege of holding interview.- Any prisoner who abuses any privilege relating to the holding of an interview or the writing of letters or other communication with any person outside the jail shall be liable to be excluded from such privileges for such time and may be subjected to such further restrictions as the Superintendent may direct.
Special Rules Relating to under trial and Civil Prisoners.
Visits to civil and unconvicted criminal prisoners.- Due provision shall be made for the admission, at proper times and under proper restrictions, into every prison of persons with whom civil or unconvicted criminal prisoners may desire to communicate, care being taken that, so far as may be consistent with the interests of justice, prisoners under-trial may see their duly qualified legal advisers without the presence of any other person.
Interview and communications of civil and unconvicted prisoners.- Unconvicted criminal and civil prisoners shall be granted facilities for writing two letters and two interviews each week with their relatives or friends.

Provided that all reasonable facilities shall be granted at proper time and under proper restrictions for interviewing, or otherwise communicating either orally or in writing with their legal advisors.

The exercise of this privilege shall be contingent on good conduct and be withdrawn or postponed by the Superintendent for bad conduct.

Interviews of unconvicted prisoners with legal advisers.- Every interview between an unconvicted prisoner and his legal adviser shall take place within sight, but out of hearing, of a jail official. A similar concession may be allowed by the Superintendent in the case of an interview with any near relative of the unconvicted prisoner.

Note: The term "friend or relative" as applied to a prospective interviewer of prisoners and as occurring in rule to supra is to be literally and strictly interpreted, that is to say, no one should be allowed an interview with a prisoner who is not entitled under the rules to interview unless he can submit proof of a personal and intimate acquaintance or of near relationship. In the case of a relative, the nature of relationship should be ascertained.

Application from Legal Advisors for interview of unconvicted prisoners.- When any person desires an interview with an unconvicted criminal prisoner in the capacity of the prisoner's advocate he shall apply in writing, giving his name and address and stating to what branch of the legal profession he belongs and he must satisfy the Superintendent that he is the bona-fide legal advisor of the prisoner with whom he seeks an interview and that he has legitimate business with him.
Confidential letters of unconvicted prisoner.- Any bona-fide confidential written communication prepared by an unconvicted criminal prisoner as instructions to his advocate may be delivered personally to such legal adviser without being previously examined by the Superintendent:

Provided that in case of doubt, the Superintendent may, after recording the reasons in Superintendent's Journal, open and examine such communication before delivery.

Time of interview of civil prisoners.- Civil prisoners may see their friends and relations at such times and under such restrictions as the Superintendent may appoint and the presence of the jail officer shall not be necessary.

Delhi Prisons (Prisoners' Welfare Fund, Appeals, Petitions, Interviews and Communications) Rules, 1988