Punjab-Haryana High Court has taken a tough stance on prisoners being deprived of health services in jails and has now ordered the Haryana and Punjab governments to submit the details of vacant posts of doctors and medical staff in the next hearing.

Along with this, both will also have to explain what the government's plan is to fill these posts.

The case of the death of a prisoner in Firozpur jail had reached the Punjab-Haryana High Court. Taking cognizance of this matter, the High Court started the hearing. On the last hearing, it was told before the single bench that a similar case was also under consideration before the division bench, and in such a situation, Justice Vinod Bhardwaj had referred this case to the Chief Justice.

When the hearing of this case started on Tuesday, the High Court studied the affidavit previously submitted by the Haryana government.

In this case, the court found that 80 percent of the posts of medical staff in the jail are vacant. The High Court said that it is mandatory for prisoners to get health services in jail, and they cannot be deprived of it.

In such a situation, on the next hearing, the Haryana and Punjab governments should tell how many sanctioned posts of medical staff are there in the jails, how many of these posts are vacant, and what plan the government has to fill these vacant posts.