HYDERABAD, April 28: The Hyderabad circuit bench of the Sindh High Court on Thursday restrained Sindh prison authorities from conducting any operation in Larkana central prison without getting permission from high court.

The court asked Sindh IG of prisons to restore law and order in the Larkana jail so that prison superintendent along with a judicial officer could go inside for inspection.

The bench comprising Mr Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Mr Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar adjourned the constitutional petition till next Thursday.

The petition was converted from a report about Hyderabad jail by Chief Justice of Sindh High Court Mr. Justice Mushir Alam. The report was prepared by a local sessions judge who visited the prison in the wake of March 15 operation.

The court took seriously a letter dated April 18 of Larkana prison chief in which he said that he was unable to control the prison.

DIG prisons Gulzar Channa who was representing IG prisons told the court that there was every likelihood that some prisoners might be killed in an impending operation because prisoners were not ready to volunteer for body search.

The bench was astonished as to why prisoners refused to get searched bodily when they entered prison and observed that it was because of corruption among jail officials that they had lost their writ.

Mr Sarhandi interjected to say that should he be allowed to carry out the operation he would control the situation in three days. “But sir, they will not do it. 'Ye kahnay key majnooh heyn' [they are involved in corruption]...”, he while pointing to DIG Gulzar Channa.

“He is representing your IG,” Justice Shah observed smilingly. Mr Sarhandi insisted that Larkana prison superintendent was from police department and not from the jail department.

Additional AG Sindh Allah Bachayo Soomro also expressed his surprise at how jails were going out of control of authorities because these were the same prisons which were controlled by officials in the past and dangerous prisoners were kept there.

“If we hadn't learnt about it there will have been an operation resulting in 15 to 20 casualties in Larkana. But why is IG prisons sleeping? You will not conduct any operation without our permission or on the basis of district judge's permission,” Justice Shah ordered.

In its order the court also asked Sindh secretary of health to appear in person next Thursday if he failed to post a medical officer in Hyderabad central prison's hospital.

Mr Sarhandi stated that he was facing problems in production of prisoners belonging to Dadu and other districts and the bench directed him to submit a list of prisoners of outstations to IG prisons so that they should be shifted to those jails.

The court asked DIG prisons to come up with details on Thursday as to how they would handle the situation when building officials would visit Larkana prison to assess nature of repairs needed there.