Mumbai: Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai is one of the most widely talked about prisons in India after Tihar. With a capacity of 804 inmates, the jail, like most prisons in the country, is overcrowded with over 3,000 souls jostling for space. Arthur Road Jail, also known as Mumbai Central Prison, was built in 1926, and is Mumbai's largest and oldest prison. It was declared a Central Jail in 1972.
In 2018, when the Indian government wanted to extradite fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, his legal team in the United Kingdom argued that he should not be sent back, citing the poor conditions of Indian prisons. Arthur Road Jail was not suitable for Vijay Mallya, his lawyer had argued. After that barrack number 12 was equipped with special facilities with the government doing so to prove that Indian prisons were 'indeed good'.
Barrack No. 12 is a ground-plus-one old building, separated from the rest of the jail by a high wall. The barrack underwent a major overhaul in 2018 after Mallya's lawyers said that India's prisons were "inhumane" and "old-fashioned sweatboxes". The lawyers added that the Arthur Road building was made of stone, a veritable furnace. Embarrassed, the government countered that Barrack 12 was designed to house high-profile prisoners and Mallya was giving such excuses to avoid extradition.
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The barracks were provided with natural light and air, a western-style attached toilet and even a 40-inch LED television. Prisoners housed here are provided with a mattress, pillow and bedsheet and meals are served on melamine crockery.
Before it was refurbished, the barrack housed key inmates including 26/11 convict Ajmal Kasab, Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, Star TV CEO Peter Mukherjee, Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam accused Vipul Ambani, and Wadhawan brothers Kapil and Dheeraj of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited.
Number 12 is again in the news for new prisoners. As Maharashtra's political battle rages, several opposition leaders have been jailed on various charges of fraud and corruption. NCP leader and former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and Minorities Minister Nawab Malik and most recently Shiv Sena's Khadar Sanjay Raut -- all three are in Barrack 12.
Earlier this week, Mohit Kamboj, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader and confidant of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, tweeted that Deshmukh and Malik, another NCP leader, would soon go to jail. The leader, once a powerful minister with a fleet of aides, is now in jail. In April, when Deshmukh slipped and injured his shoulder in jail, his party colleague Nawab Malik also fell ill.
The jail administration came to know about the incident later and admitted Deshmukh and Malik to the hospital for treatment. Malik is also now in hospital with kidney problems. MP Sanjay Raut, prisoner number 8959 - spends his days in the prison library, reading newspapers and catching up on the news on the large LED TV available in barrack number 12.
