Malaysian National in Gujarat Jail Seeks Video Call with Overseas Wife
A Malaysian national, currently incarcerated in Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad, has approached the Gujarat High Court with a petition seeking permission to communicate with his wife in Malaysia through video conferencing under the e-mulaqat facility for prisoners.
The petitioner, Shri Selvaraj Soloman, was arrested in January 2024 in a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. His arrest followed a raid by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Meghashri Agri Pharma Chem Pvt Ltd, a pharmaceutical company accused of producing and smuggling ketamine out of India.
Allegations and Legal Proceedings
Soloman is alleged to have been dispatched by a Kuala Lumpur-based company to oversee the production and quality control of the narcotic substance at the Ahmedabad-based firm. Since his arrest, he has faced significant legal hurdles, with bail being denied twice by the trial court and once by the Gujarat High Court.
In an effort to maintain family ties, Soloman later approached the jail authorities, requesting to speak with his wife, who is an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholder residing in Malaysia, through the e-mulaqat scheme. This facility is designed to facilitate video calls between inmates and their relatives.
Rejection and Court Petition
However, his request was rejected by the jail authorities on the grounds that the e-mulaqat facility is intended solely for communication with relatives within India. They cited that there is no existing provision to connect inmates with individuals located abroad, highlighting a gap in the current prison communication policies.
Following this rejection, Soloman filed a petition in the Gujarat High Court, seeking directions to the jail authorities to extend the e-mulaqat facility to enable a video call with his wife in Malaysia. His legal counsel argued that personal meetings with family members are exceedingly difficult due to their overseas residence, emphasizing that this situation presents a peculiar hardship that warrants judicial intervention.
Court's Response and Future Hearing
The Gujarat High Court has taken cognizance of the matter and issued a notice to the jail authorities, seeking their formal response to the petition. The case is scheduled for further hearing on April 28, where the court will deliberate on whether to allow the extension of the e-mulaqat facility to include international connections, potentially setting a precedent for similar cases involving foreign nationals in Indian prisons.
This petition underscores the challenges faced by inmates with family abroad in maintaining contact, especially in the context of evolving digital communication tools within the correctional system.
