Mumbai, Sep 25 A special NIA court here has rejected a plea by an undertrial seeking exemption from prison haircut rules for a personal religious vow, observing that allowing long hair could cause contagious conditions like lice and fungal infections among inmates.
Special NIA Judge A A Joglekar on Thursday dismissed the application filed by Jerry Philips Jacobs, who is incarcerated in Arthur Road Jail in connection with a human trafficking case for allegedly sending Indians to Laos for forced illegal cyber crimes.
The undertrial claimed that he and his family had taken a religious vow to shave his head before their deity.
Maintaining that he had moved the application with “clean and religious intention”, Jacobs urged the court to direct the prison authorities to let him keep his hair.
However, the Arthur Road prison authorities contended that permitting long hair would cause the spread of contagious skin and scalp diseases that require prolonged medical treatment.
Furthermore, the jail authorities clarified that under Rule 15, sub-rule (iv) of the Jail Manual, the liberty to maintain uncut hair is strictly extended only to inmates of the Sikh faith and can’t be applied to Jacobs.
The court, acknowledging the prison report, noted that “it categorically states that such long hair and beard would lead to lice infestation, fungal infection and scabies amongst co-prisoners and which take longer treatment”.
Considering the fact that these diseases are contagious, it would not be proper to pass any direction to the jail authorities, the court said while rejecting his plea.
(PTI News)
