RAIPUR: Social activist and scholar Bela Bhatia sat on a Satyagraha in Bastar on Wednesday evening. She protested in Jagdalpur Central Jail premises after being forced to wait for hours to collect information about her client and was later denied a meeting.Since Bhatia is working for tribal rights and advocating the release of tribals languishing in jails after being branded as Maoists, she felt offended after being "shabbily treated by the jail authorities".Chief minister Bhupesh Baghel tweeted saying, "Renowned social worker Bela Bhatia was forced to go on a Satyagraha and this is very sad. Congress government is standing with social and human rights activists and I will see to it that she doesn't have to face any such issues further." Bhatia expressed happiness after the CM's assurance and said that she hopes he would take a tour of the jails in Bastar to ensure there was no legal violation taking place.Talking to TOI, Bhatia said, "This isn't the first time something like this happened to me, which seems like a deliberate attempt to keep me waiting for long and then denying me basic information about my client, which a lawyer is entitled to get easily." Bhatia said, "I had gone to Jagdalpur Central Jail premises on Wednesday at around 5pm after consulting about my requirements with the jail authorities earlier in the day. I was asked to fill the applications as part of routine formalities and to wait. While the newly constructed jail premises has no designated place to sit for lawyers, instead there's this 'mulakati' section where relatives of inmates wait, which too hardly has a single bench."I waited for two hours and the jail staff started winding up their work and the gates were closed. I was told I will be not able to meet my client and the information I sought about date of next hearing should be collected from the court and not jail. It dawned upon me that I was being treated shabbily by the jail authorities and they were not cooperative with me", Bhatia said. "Earlier, on September 12, 2018 a similar thing incident happened and I was forced to wait for three hours, while I saw other lawyers entering without much of a hassle. That is why I decided to sit on a Satyagraha," Bhatia added.The activist also alleged that the jail had asked her to file an RTI application if she wanted to know the date of the next hearing of her client, which she did last year and is yet to get a response.While Bhatia decided to sit on a Satyagraha until she was being heard, it was only after three hours when some local media personnel took stock of the situation and a junior warder came to her with details of the information she sought. At around 9.15pm she finally withdrew her Satyagraha. Bhatia raised the need of proper sitting arrangements for lawyers at the newly constructed jail premises worth crores of rupees.Jailer Amit Shandilya told reporter s that the information on hearing is confidential and even lawyers have to fulfil basic legal formalities which was being done in Bhatia's case as well. Bhatia has been working for past many years on issues related to tribal rights in Bastar. In 2017, a mob attacked her house in Jagdalpur, threatening her to leave Bastar and the then inspector general of police SRP Kalluri was accused of encouraging the mob, following which, he was transferred to the police headquarters.

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