Kerala court allows prisoner to skip mandatory jail haircut
What's the story
In a landmark judgment, a Kerala court has allowed a prisoner to not get a mandatory haircut while in custody. Kollam Chief Judicial Magistrate KV Naina directed the Kollam district jail authorities to not cut the prisoner's hair. The petitioner, RS Jyothi, is a 38-year-old former Tamil movie worker, who is in judicial custody in a sexual assault case.
Career considerations
Prisoner's acting aspirations influence court's decision
Jyothi had been growing his hair for a possible role in a Tamil film and was not ready to follow the jail's haircut rule. Despite the insistence of the jail authorities to follow the rule, Jyothi sought legal help through his wife. His legal team, which included advocate Venu J Pillai, Vysakh V Nair, and S Sreejith, moved a petition on his behalf.
Verdict details
Court prioritizes acting opportunity over jail protocol
The court's decision stressed that Jyothi shouldn't lose out on his acting opportunity over the haircut condition. The prosecutor had contended that the jail manual requires haircuts for all prisoners. However, Magistrate Naina's order permits Jyothi to keep his neck-long hair for his film role dreams.