HC Seeks Update on Maha Prison Recruitment Amid Staff Shortage The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Monday directed the Maharashtra government to submit a progress report on recruitment efforts to fill vacancies in the state’s prisons within 15 days. The court emphasized the urgency of expediting the process after the General Administration Department (GAD) approved a proposal to revise staffing patterns. The directive was issued by a division bench comprising Justices Urmila Joshi-Phalke and Nivedita Mehta during hearings on two criminal writ petitions filed by an undertrial, Sachin Chandramani Lone, represented by counsel Ratna Singh and Mohammed Sheikh. Senior counsel Firdos Mirza was appointed as amicus curiae in the case. The court reviewed an affidavit submitted by Sugriv Dhapate, joint secretary of the Home Department, which stated that the GAD had issued a government resolution on May 5, 2026, to rationalize and reform recruitment across government cadres. The state government informed the court that the revised staffing proposal had been approved and that the updated recruitment rules would be notified after obtaining concurrence from the Finance Department. During the hearing, Mirza highlighted recent directions issued by the Supreme Court in a pending prison reforms case, which required all states and union territories to provide comprehensive information on prison capacity, overcrowding, women’s prisons, facilities for children of women prisoners, sanctioned staff strength, vacancies, and measures to address them. Taking note of the Supreme Court’s directives and the state’s approval of the revised staffing proposal, the high court instructed the government to advance the recruitment process effectively and submit an updated status report within 15 days.#maharashtra_government #bombay_high_court #nivedita_mehta #sachin_chandramani_lone #ratna_singh
