Jail Manual 2022

646 - Mode of communication by the prisoner

The mode of communication and interviews by the prisoners and its frequency shall be determined by the Director General/Inspector General (Prisons) under control and orders of the State Government.

647 - Ordinary letters and interviews

1- Every convict shall be allowed to write one letter and to have one interview with his relatives or friends fortnightly during his term of imprisonment.

2- Every convict shall be allowed to receive all letters addressed to him by his relatives and friends. This concession shall, however, be allowed at the discretion of the Superintendent.

3- On admission, every sensitive and high risk prisoner shall be asked to submit a list of persons who are likely to interview him and the interview shall be restricted to such family members, relatives and friends.

Note-

1- A letter merely arranging an interview shall not be counted as a letter for the purposes of this rule.

2- A convict may, with the permission of the Superintendent substitute writing a letter for an interview, or vice versa.

648 - Communication with relatives lodged inside jail

1 - Blood relation and spouse of prisoner lodged in the same prison shall be allowed to interview with each other, once a week during his or her term of imprisonment. Day and time for this purpose shall be determined by the Superintendent.

2 - If the blood relation or spouse of a prisoner is lodged in any other prison of the state, communication between them may be permitted with the use of telephone or other electronic mode of communication. Such communications shall take place with the written consultation of the officer in-charge of the concerned jail regarding special circumstances prevailing in the matter.

649 - Facilities to new convicts

Every newly convicted prisoner shall be allowed reasonable facilities for seeing or communicating with his relatives, friends and legal advisers, with a view to the preparation of an appeal or revision or to the procuring of bail. He shall also be allowed to have interviews with, or write letters to his friends once or twice or more often if the Superintendent considers it necessary, to enable him to arrange for the management of his property or other family affairs.

Note-

The Superintendent may allow a legal adviser to have an interview with a convict even though the latter be on hunger strike. The provisions of rule 433 shall be followed in such cases.

650 - Facilities to convicts imprisoned in default of payment of fine or furnishing security

Every convict committed to prison in default of the payment of fine or on failure to furnish security under Chapter VIII of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 shall be allowed to communicate by letters and to have interviews at any reasonable time with his relations or friends for the purpose of arranging for the payment of the fine or the furnishing of security.

641 - Letters on transfer from one jail to another

Every prisoner shall, on transfer from one jail to another be allowed to write special letters to his friends or relatives intimating the change of address.

If the prisoner is for any reason unable to inform his friends or relatives before his transfer from a jail, he shall be permitted to do so after his arrival in the other jail.

652 - Interviews and letters for condemned convicts

Every condemned convict shall be allowed to interview and communicate with his relatives, friends and legal advisers as the Superintendent may think reasonable.

653 - Extra interviews and letters

1 - The Superintendent may, at his discretion, grant interviews or allow the dispatch or receipt of letters at shorter intervals than provided in rule 647, or in spite of misconduct on the part of the prisoner, 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 convict is nearing release and wishes to secure employment, or for other sufficient cause. Matters of importance, such as the death of relatives, 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.

In the cases of prisoners laboring under dangerous illness and in case of extreme urgency the friends or relatives should be intimated by means as the Superintendent may direct.

2 - A prisoner may write an application addressed to the State Government through the District Magistrate for admission to the superior class. Such application should, as far as possible contain all the necessary particulars regarding his social status, education, etc., as required by the rules.

654 - Permission to sign documents

Every prisoner may at the discretion of the Superintendent be permitted to sign and attest a power of attorney or other statements, conveyances concerning his properties.

655 - Representations to Government or Government officers

1 - Prisoners may be permitted to address communications to the State Government, the Director General/Inspector General (Prisons) or any other Government Officer of the State in his official capacity with a view to the redressing of a grievance. But such communications should be to the point and not contain any offensive or irrelevant matter, e.g., a discourse on politics. Communications from one prisoner on behalf of another or joint memorials or petitions are not permitted. In forwarding all such communication to the authority concerned the usual channel of correspondence must be followed.

If a prisoner submits a petition or a letter addressed to a person or authority not covered by the foregoing provisions, the Superintendent shall forward it to the Director General/Inspector General of Prisons who may, in his discretion, withhold it and inform the prisoner of having done so together with reasons therefor or forward it to Government for their orders.

656 - Interviews with prisoners of foreign nationality

Details of any foreign prisoner admitted in the prison shall be communicated to the Director General (Prisons), Deputy Inspector General, Prisons of the Range and the District Magistrate immediately. In case, the foreign prisoner wants to communicate with the embassy, the communication shall be sent to embassy through appropriate authority.

Whenever representative of any foreign mission or Embassy approaches the State/Jail authority for consular access to any prisoner or detainee, such access shall be granted only on receipt of permission letter issued by the relevant division of the Ministry of External Affairs who are authorised to issue such permission.

Note: The right to interview a foreign national in prison does not mean a private interview and does not include the right to inspect the enclosure of the prisoner/detente. This is also subject to general regulations regarding interviews in prisons.

657 - Letters by the members of Legislature.

All communications addressed by a convicted or an undertrial prisoner (including one imprisoned for failure to furnish security) who is a Member of the State Legislature or of Parliament, to the Speaker or Chairman of the House of which he is a member, or to the Chairman of a Committee, (including a Committee of Privileges) of such House, or of a Joint Committee of both Houses of the State Legislature or of Parliament, as the case may be, shall be immediately forwarded by the Superintendent of the jail to the Government so as to be dealt with by them in accordance with the rights and privileges of the prisoner as Member of the House to which he belongs.

658 - Censorship of letters

1 - No letter shall be delivered to or sent by a prisoner until it has been examined by the Superintendent or by the Jailor or some other officer authorized by the Superintendent in this behalf, but no unnecessary delay shall be allowed to occur in its delivery or dispatch. If a letter is written in a language unknown to the Superintendent or the officer examining the letter, he shall take steps to procure its translation before forwarding it. No letters written in cipher shall be allowed to be sent or received. 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 therein. The subject-matter of letters shall be limited to private and domestic matters and those concerning cases in which prisoner is detained and shall not extend to politics. Suspicious looking letters may be exposed to heat or treated in any other suitable manner as a safeguard against any unauthorized messages written in invisible ink being smuggled in or out of jail.

2 - The letters of prisoners alleged to have relations with a terrorist organization or alleged to be involved in anti-national or subversive activities shall be forwarded to the intelligence department for scrutiny. A copy of such letters shall be kept for record.

659 - Letters to a prisoner not entitled to receive them

If a letter is addressed to a prisoner who is not entitled under the rules to receive it, it may, unless the Superintendent decides to deliver it to the prisoner under rule 653 be withheld and kept in the Superintendent’s custody until the prisoner is entitled to receive it or is released when it shall, unless it is improper or objectionable, be delivered to him. The Superintendent may if he thinks fit, also return such letter to the sender with intimation that the prisoner is not entitled to receive it.

660 - Retention of letters by prisoners

A prisoner may, unless the Superintendent otherwise directs, retain any letters which may have been delivered to him.

661 - Writing material for letters

1 - Writing materials, including service post cards, shall be supplied in reasonable quantities to the prisoner permitted to write a letter. Postage stamps shall be provided at Government expense for the dispatch of prisoners’ letters.

2 - Every letter sent or received by a prisoner shall be entered in jail register no 81.All petitions, vakalatnamas and notice etc. sent or received by prisoners shall also be entered in this register.

3 - Every interview shall be recorded in a prescribed register and the entries shall be initialed by the Jailor.

4 - Interview and letters etc shall also be entered on the prisoner's interview ticket or history ticket under the initials of the Jailor.

662 - Petition for interviews

Petitions for interviews with prisoners shall be oral or in writing or making a request online. If the prisoner is not entitled to an interview, the petitioner shall be informed at once.

663 - Identification of visitor to be established before interview

Visitors shall be allowed to meet the prisoners only upon producing identification to the satisfaction of the Jailor. Visitors may be photographed or videographed.

The visitors shall be allowed for interview only when they have a computerised photograph pass.

664 - Petition writers

The Superintendent may authorize petition-writers to be in attendance outside the main gate at the computer point designated for generating and writing petitions. He may also prescribe the form in which petitions for interviews should be written. The charges or fee for writing such petition shall be fixed by the Director General (Prisons).

665 - Terms and conditions for appointment as petition writers

1- The Superintendent shall engage petition writers on licence periodically in proportion of one petition writer ordinarily for 500 prisoners or its fraction.

2 - Petition writer shall have the ability to read and write petition in Hindi or Urdu or English language.

3 - He must have basic knowledge of computer operation on the e-Prisons system.

4 - A non-refundable fee for such license shall be fixed by the Director General.

5 - License of petition writer may be cancelled at any time by giving prior notice assigning reasons.

6 - No jail officer or his relatives shall be allowed to engage in petition writing therefor.

666 - Procedure for receipt of Petitions

The petitions shall be received at the jail gate by the gatekeeper at the time decided by the Superintendent. The gatekeeper shall enter in the gate book the number of petitions so received and provide them to the officer in-charge for interviews without unnecessary delay, who shall after scrutiny of such petitions, put them before the Jailor for sanction.

667 - Termination of an interview

1 - At the interview, conversations shall be limited to private and domestic matters. An interview may be terminated at any moment by the jail officer present if the conversation is related to crime or other such scheming and the Superintendent shall be informed so.

2 - Every person seeking an interview with a prisoner shall be required to give an undertaking not to communicate to the press or mass media anything relating to the interview. It should be explained to the interviewers that a breach of such undertaking whould be regarded as a sufficient ground for debarring them from further interviews with the prisoner.

3 - The Director General or the Superintendent is authorized to prohibit any person from having any further interview with any prisoner if there is a reason to believe that such person has issued any publication as a result of an interview or visit of prison. All visitors shall be warned of this order before an interview.

668 - Prohibition of photography and videography

No person visiting the jail shall be allowed to carry any photographic or video graphic equipment including mobile phone or make use thereof inside the jail without the written permission of the Director General (Prisons) or the Superintendent.

669 - Days and hours for interviews

Except on Sundays and jail holidays enumerated in rule 837 of the Jail Manual, interviews shall be held daily.

The time and manner of interviews may be fixed by the Superintendent taking into consideration the number of inmates, space available for interview, climate, discipline and security of the jail, convenience of the interviewers and the jail staff.

The time so fixed by the Superintendent shall be treated as the usual time of interviews for that jail and shall be notified in Hindi and Urdu at the jail gate.

The Superintendent may, at his discretion, grant special permission in deserving cases for interviews even on holidays.

670 - Place of interviews

1 - Every interview shall take place in a special part of the jail/room set apart for the purpose. Interview room may normally have such space as to equip it with a suitable partition, intercom, surveillance facilities, as per the guidelines issued from time to time.

2 - The Superintendent of Prisons may allow well-behaved prisoners to have face-to-face interviews after giving due consideration to security and other related aspects.

3 - If a prisoner is seriously ill, the Superintendent may permit the interview to take place in the hospital.

4 - A condemned convict shall ordinarily be interviewed in his cell;

5 - The Superintendent may, for special reasons to be recorded, permit an interview to take place in any part of the jail.

671 - Number of persons at an interview

Not more than three adults shall be allowed to interview a prisoner at one interview. The Superintendent may, at his discretion, grant special permission to more than three adults for interview.

672 - Supervision of interviews

1 - Except in case of interviews with legal advisors every interview with a prisoner shall take place in the presence of a jail officer, who shall see that no irregularity occurs, and shall so place himself as to be able to see and hear what passes and to prevent any article being passed between the parties.

The conversation shall be limited to private and domestic matters and shall not extend to politics.

2 - Interviews of sensitive and high risk prisoners, as classified by the Superintendent or local police, shall take place in the presence of a Local Intelligence Unit official. Interviews of prisoners detained under special Acts shall take place in accordance with provisions contained in that Act or notification itself or under the directions of the State Government.

673 - Deposit of articles or cash at interviews

Should the friends or relations interviewing a prisoner wish to make over any articles or cash for the use of prisoner either in jail or on release, they shall deposit them at the main gate, with the permission of the officer supervising the interviews under intimation to the Superintendent

The prisoner shall be permitted, while in jail, to use only such articles as he is allowed to have under the rules. The introduction of any article or cash into the jail, except in accordance with this rule or with the written sanction of the Superintendent is prohibited and declared to be an offence under section 42 of Prison’s Act 1894. (Act no. 9of 1894)

674 - Search before and after an interview

1 - Every interviewer shall be searched with dignity before the commencement of the interview at a proper place by a jail officer nominated by the Superintendent. Female interviewers shall be searched with dignity by a female member of staff in a place out of sight of male persons.

2 - Every prisoner shall be carefully searched before and after an interview by a head warder or warder specially deputed for this purpose. The search shall not be conducted in the presence or within sight of the interviewers.

675 - Time allowed for interview

The time allowed for an interview shall, ordinarily, be thirty minutes, but when the total number of interviewers exceeds two hundred, the time allowed shall be twenty minutes only.

An interview may be terminated at any moment, if the officer supervising the interview considers that sufficient cause exists. In every such case, the reason for terminating the interview shall be reported at once for the orders of the senior officer present at the jail.

676 - Telephonic and electronic communication

The Superintendent of Prisons may allow a prisoner, the use of telephones or electronic modes of communication on payment, to contact his family and lawyers, from time to time and in case of exigencies such as illness or death of any relative or friend in accordance with the State policy.

The prisoner can use this facility under the supervision of a prison officer deputed by the Superintendent.

While permitting a prisoner the use of such facilities, the Superintendent shall ensure that such permission is not given to prisoners who have a record of unruly behaviour and bad conduct.

677 - Refusal of interview

1 - The Superintendent may refuse to allow an interview to which a prisoner would ordinarily be entitled under these rules, if in his opinion it is against the public interest to allow any particular person to interview the prisoner or for some other sufficient cause. In every such case he shall record in his order book the reason for such refusal.

2 - The Superintendent may, in his discretion, disallow ex-convicts from interviewing any prisoner, unless they are related to them.

3 - The Superintendent shall not allow the interview if the prisoner does not give consent for the same.

678 - Abuse of privilege

Any prisoner who abuses any privilege relating to interviews or letters or communications with persons 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.

विचाराधीन बंदी मुलाकात / विधिक मुलाकात का शासनादेश 

पुराना अध्याय

CHAPTER XXVI [Interviews and Letters ]

[Addenda and Corrigenda to the Jail Manual, Uttar Pradesh, Correction Slip no. 31, Substitute the following for Chapter XXVI,  Sanctioned in G.O. No. 53/XXII-1714(85)/1947, dated June 6,1952 ]

685. Ordinary letters and interviews

(i) Every convict shall be allowed to write one letter and to have one interview with his relatives or friends every month during his term of imprisonment.

(ii) Every convict shall be allowed to receive of letter addressed to him by him by his relative or friends. This concession shall, however, be allowed at the discretion of the Superintendent. But the inmates of the Kishore Sadan, Bareilly, Reformatory School, Lucknow and the wage earning inmates of the Model Prison Lucknow shall be allowed this concession as a matter of principle.

Notes –

(1) A letter merely arranging an interview shall not be counted as a letter for the purposes of this rule.

(2) A convict may, with the permission of the Superintendent substitute writing a letter for interview or vice-versa.

[ Sanctioned in G.O. no. 661 / XXII-809-A(18)/57, dated April 28, 1960 ]

686. Facilities to new convicts

Every newly convicted prisoner shall be allowed reasonable facilities for seeing or communicating with his relatives, friends and legal advisers, with a view to the preparation of an appeal or revision or to the procuring of bail. He shall also be allowed to have interviews with or write letters to his friends once or twice, or oftener, if the Superintendent considers it necessary, to enable him to arrange for the management of his property or other family affairs.

Note - The Superintendent may allow a legal adviser to have an interview with a convict even though the latter be on hunger strike. The provisions of paragraph 457D shall be followed in such cases.

687. Facilities to convicts imprisoned in default of payment of fine or furnishing security

Every convict committed to prison in default of the payment of fine or on failure to furnish security under Chapter VIII of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 shall be allowed to communicate by letters and to have interviews at any reasonable time with his relations or friends for the purpose of arranging for the payment of the fine or the furnishing of security.

688. Letters on transfer from one jail to  another

Every prisoner shall, on transfer from one jail to another be allowed to write special letters to his friends or relatives intimating the change of address. If the prisoner is for any reason unable to inform his friends or relatives before his transfer from a jail, he shall be permitted to do so after his arrival in the other jail.

689. Interviews and letters for condemned convicts

Every condemned convict shall be allowed to interview and communicate with his relatives, friends and legal advisers as the Superintendent may think reasonable. In such cases the Magistrate of the District to which the convict belongs may, when desired by the convict, be requested by the Superintendent to communicate to a friend or relation of the convict his desire for an interview.

690. Extra interviews and letters

The Superintendent may at his discretion grant interviews or allow the dispatch or receipt of letters at shorter intervals than provided in paragraph 685, or in spite of misconduct on the part of the convict, if he considers that special or urgent grounds exist for such concession, as for example, in the event of the convict 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 convict and it would inflict an undue hardship on them to refuse an interview, or if the convict is nearing release and wishes to secure employment, or for other sufficient cause. Matters of importance such as the death of a relative may also be communicated at any time by the friends of a convict to the Superintendent who will, if he thinks it expedient, inform the convict of the substance of the communication.

 In cases of prisoners laboring under dangerous illness and in case of extreme urgency the friends or relatives should be called by letter direct.

691. Application for admission to superior class

A prisoner may write an application addressed to the State Government through the District Magistrate for admission to the superior class. Such application should as for as possible contain all the necessary particulars regarding his social status education, etc., as required by the rules.

692. Representations to Government officers

Prisoners maybe permitted to address communications to the State Government, the Inspector General or any other Government Officer of the State in his official capacity with a view to redressing his grievance. But such communications should be to the point and not contain any offensive or irrelevant matter, e.g., a discourse on politics. Communications from one prisoner on behalf of another or joint memorials or petitions are not permitted. In forwarding all such communication to the authority concerned the usual channel of correspondence must be followed.

692-A. 

If a prisoner submits a petition or a letter addressed to a person or authority not covered by the forgoing provisions, the Superintendent shall forward it to the Inspector General of Prisons who may, in his discretion, withhold it and inform the prisoner of having done so together with reasons there for or forward it to the Government for their orders.

[ Sanctioned in G.O. no. 702-P / XXII-602-54, dated May 7, 1955 ]

692-B. Letters by the member of Legislature

All communications addressed by a convicted or an undertrial prisoner (including one imprisonment for failure to furnish security) who is a Member of the State Legislature or of Parliament, to the Speaker or Chairman of the House of which he is a member, or to the Chairman of a Committee of both Houses of the State Legislature or of Parliament, as the case may be, shall be immediately forwarded by the Superintendent of the Jail to the Government so as to be dealt with by them in accordance with the rights and privileges of the prisoner as Member of the House to which he belongs.

693. Censorship of letters

No letter shall be delivered to or sent by a prisoner until it has been examined by the Superintendent or by the Jailor or some other officer authorized by the Superintendent in this behalf, but no unnecessary delay shall be allowed to occur in its delivery or dispatch. If a letter is written in a language unknown to the Superintendent or the office examining the letter, he shall take steps to procure its translation before forwarding it. No letter written in cipher shall be allowed to be sent or received. The Superintendent may without any letter which seems to him to be in any way improper or objectionable, or may erase any improper or objectionable passages therein. The subject matter of letters shall be limited to private and domestic matters and shall not extend to politics.

Suspicious looking letters may be exposed to heat or treated in any other suitable manner as a safeguard against any unathourised messages written in invisible ink being smuggled in or out of jail.

694. Letters to a prisoner not entitled to receive them

If a letter is addressed to a prisoner who is not entitled under the rules to receive it, it may, unless the Superintendent decide to deliver it to the prisoner under paragraph 690 be withheld and kept in the Superintendent’s custody until the prisoner is entitled to receive it or is released when it shall, unless it is improper or objectionable, be delivered to him. The Superintendent may if he thinks fit also return such letter to the sender with an intimation that the prisoner is not entitled to receive it.

695. Retention of letters by prisoners

A prisoner may, unless the Superintendent otherwise directs, retain any letters which may have been delivered to him or may ask that they be kept for him in the jail.

696. Writing material for letters

Writing materials, including service port cards, shall be supplied in reasonable quantities to any prisoners permitted to write a letter, and all letters shall be written at such time and place as the Superintendent may appoint. A fixed day of the week preferably Sunday, shall be set apart for letter writing. Service postage stamps shall be provided at Government expense for the dispatch of prisoners’ letters.

697. Letters and interviews etc. to be entered in registers

Every letter sent or received by a prisoner shall be entered in Jail Register No. 30. All petitions, vakalatnamas and notices etc., sent or received by prisoners shall also be entered in this register.

Every interview shall also be recorded in Jail Register No. 29 and the entries shall be initialed by the Superintendent.

698. Petition for interviews

Petitions for interviews with prisoners may be oral or in writing. If the prisoner is not entitled to an interview, the applicant shall be informed at once and written petitions shall be returned duly endorsed by the Jail Officer entrusted with this duty, to the petitioner in the presence of the Superintendent as he leaves the Jail. Applications received after the Superintendent has left the jail, or on days when he does not visit the jail, should be referred to him for orders and should, if refused, be returned to the petitioner in the presence of the jailor.

699. Petition writers

Petition for interviews shall be written on plain paper. The Superintendent may authorize a petition writer to be in attendance outside the main gate for writing petitions and may prescribe the form in which petitions for interviews should be written by him. The charge for writing such petition shall not exceed fifteen paise irrespective of the member or relative or friends seeking the interview. No Jail Officer or the relative of any Jail Officer shall be allowed to engage in petition writing.

700. Petition box

All petitions shall be deposited in a petition box kept in a conspicuous place at the main gate of the jail. The box shall be kept locked and the key shall be retained by the Superintendent, who shall open the box at each visit to the jail and cause the content of the petitions to be over to him at once. A notice specifying the hour at which the box shall be opened every day shall be put up at the main gate.

701. Prohibition against communicating interviews to the press

Every person seeking an interview with a prisoner shall be required to give an under taking not to communicate to the press anything relating to the interview. It should be explained to the interviewers that a breach of such undertaking would be regarded as a sufficient ground for debarring them from further interviews with the prisoner.

702. Day and hours of interviews

Except on Saturdays and Jail Holidays enumerated in paragraph 885 of the Jail Manual, interviews shall be held daily and also on Sundays. The time for interviews shall be fixed by the Superintendent of the Jail with due regard to the convenience of interviews and the jail staff. The time so fixed by the Superintendent shall be treated as the usual time of interviews for that jail and shall be notified in Urdu and Hindi at the jail gate. The Superintendent may, at his discretion, grant special permission in deserving cases for interviews even in holidays.

703. Place of interviews

(a) Every interview shall take place in a special part of the jail set apart for the purpose, if possible, at or near the main gate subject to the following conditions:

(i) interviews with female prisoners shall, if practicable, take place in the female enclosure;

(ii) if a prisoner is seriously ill, the Superintendent may permit the interview to take place in the hospital;

(iii) a condemned convict shall ordinarily be interviewed in his cell;

(iv) the Superintendent may, for special reasons to be recorded, permit an interview to take place in any part of the jail.

(b) Number of persons at an interview – Not more than three adults shall be allowed to interview a prisoner at one interview.

704. Supervision of interviews

Except in the case of interviews with legal advisers every interview with a prisoner shall take place in the presence of Jail Officer, who shall see that no irregularity occurs, and shall so place himself as to be able to see and hear what passes and to prevent any article being passed between parties.

The conversation shall be limited to private and domestic matters and shall not extend to politics.

705. Deposit of articles or cash at interviews

If the friends or relatives interviewing a prisoner wish to make over any articles or cash for the use of the prisoner either in jail or on release, they shall deposit them at the main gate, with the permission of the officer supervising the interviews. Any articles or cash deposited under this paragraph shall be brought to the notice of the Superintendent at the main gate with the permission of the officer Supervising Registers. The prisoner shall be permitted, while in jail, to use only such articles as he is allowed to have under the rules. The introduction of any article or cash into the jail, except in accordance with this paragraph or with the written sanction of the Superintendent is prohibited and declared to be an offence under section 42 ofthe Prisons Act (Act IX of 1894).

706. Search before and after an interview

Every prisoner shall be carefully searched before and after an interview by a head warder or warder specially deputed for this purpose. The search shall not be conducted in the presence or within sight of the interviewers.

707. Times allowed for interviews

The time allowed for an interview shall ordinarily, be thirty minutes, but when the total number of interviewers exceeds two hundred, the time allowed shall be twenty minutes only. An interview may be terminated at any moment if the office supervising the interview considers that sufficient cause exists. In every such case, the reasons for terminating the interview shall be reported at once for the orders of the senior officer present at the jail.

708. Refusal of interview

(a) The Superintendent may refuse to allow an interview to which a prisoner would ordinarily be entitled under these rules if in his opinion it is against the public interest to allow any particular person to interview the prisoner or for some other sufficient cause. In every such case he shall record in his order book the reason for such refusal.

(b) The Superintendent may, in his discretion, disallow ex-convicts from interviewing prisoners, unless they are related to them.

709. Abuse of privilege

Any prisoner who abuses any privilege relating to interviews or letters or communications with persons 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.