Section 16 in Punjab Detenus (Conditions of Detention) Order, 1981
16. Correspondence and censorship.
(1)Letters from a Legislature detenu to the speaker of the Legislative Assembly and a communication from the Speaker to that detenu as well as correspondence between a detenu and courts or law need not be censored and the same be forwarded directly by the Superintendent to the quarters concerned. All such letters should be sent by the Superintendent within twenty-four hours of their receipt by him. The letters meant for the Legislator detenu received from the Legislative Secretariat and the letters from the Court of law to any detenu should be delivered on the day these are received.(2)Each detenu will be permitted to write three letters a week at Government expenses excluding those referred to in sub clause (1) and may receive any number of letters per week. All letters from detenu shall be written in Form 'B' annexed to this order and shall not exceed the length prescribed. The necessary forms shall be supplied by Government.(3)The Superintendent shall have the discretion to allow additional correspondence beyond the limitation prescribed in sub clause (2) in case of absolute necessity and the Superintendent shall use his discretion in favour of the detenu whenever the detenu happens to be odged in a Jail away from his normal place of residence.(4)In exercising censorship on letters, the Jail authority should ensure that :-(a)there is no cause or undue delay in transmission or delivery of letters.(b)the letters delivered or transmitted contain nothing which is prejudicial.(5)The letters addressed by the State Government to the detenu and the reply thereto shall not be included for the purpose of determining the numbers of letters exchanged by the detenu under this order.(6)All correspondence, addressed by a detenu to the Central Government of to a State Government, other than the State where he is detained shall be routed through the Government of the State in which the detenu is detained. This shall not, however, apply to the correspondence mentioned in sub clause (1).(7)No letter, newspaper or other communication shall be transmitted to or from any detenu except through the Superintendent or such other officer as the State Government may be general or special order, designate in this behalf.(8)All letters to and from detenus detained in Jails shall be perused by the Superintendent concerned and subject to any special orders of the State Government shall be submitted by the Superintendent direct to the Superintendent of Police of the District concerned who may at his discretion either forward the letters without delay or withhold them. In case of doubt the Superintendent of Police shall be refer the matter to the Deputy Inspector General of Police (Criminal Investigation Department) or other officer designated by the Government in this behalf.(9)If in any communication made by, or intended to be delivered to a detenu, anything, objectionable from the point of view of Jail discipline is found by the Superintendent, he may delete the same or mark it for deletion and mention what has been done when forwarding such communication to the proper authority.(10)Every letter forwarded to or from the detenu shall be initialled and dated by the officer who handled the letter.(11)In all cases, in which a letter is withheld the detenu shall be informed through the Superintendent of the fact of the retention. All letters withheld shall be sent to the Deputy Inspector General of Police (Criminal Investigation Department) or the other officer designated by Government in this behalf who may at his discretion either retain them or destroy them.(12)The following procedure shall be followed with regard to the despatch of telegrams to and from detenus :-When the telegram is to or from the State Government it shall be forwarded direct provided that the State Government shall always be the intermediary in correspondence with the Central Government. It shall be the duty of Superintendent to ensure that only those telegrams the urgency of the contents of which justifies the use of telegraphic transmission shall be despatched or received by detenus. The Superintendent may despatch any telegram from detenu, including a petition submitted in telegraphic form by post instead of by telegram in any case where in his opinion the subject matter is not of sufficient urgency to justify transmission by telegraphs.(13)Detenus shall attach to all their out going correspondence (including telegrams), a slip containing the full name and address and relationship if any of the addressee, and of each person mentioned in the letter or telegram. These slips shall be sent to the Deputy Inspector General of Police (Criminal Investigation Department), or other officer designated by Government in this behalf who, if he considers that the writer should not be allowed to correspond with the addressee, shall inform the Superintendent or the officer concerned for his future guidance.(14)The correspondence to and from detenus shall confine purely to domestic matters or such matters relating to the welfare of the detenus or their relatives and matter relating to the private business. Letters containing references to political or communal matters shall be withheld.
