PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has disposed of a petition from inmates of the Peshawar Central Prison after learning that the jail authorities have allowed prisoners to prepare their meals after building a new cookingarea on the premises.

A bench consisting of Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Syed Arshad Ali heard the petition of the two under-trial prisoners, including Wasiullah and Tufail Zia, against the non-provision of the facility to cookfor themselvesinside the prison.

Advocate Nauman Muhib Kakakhel appeared for the petitioners and said that their clients had challenged a prison circular, which declared that electricity boards were to be removed from barracks though it was the only facility available to them to prepare their own meals.

He said that the purpose of the circular was to curb the use of mobile phones in the prisons, where no jammers of signals were installed, but the Central Prison Peshawar had signal jammers.

The lawyer said that the KP Prison Rules, 2018, allowed under-trial prison-ers tocook for themselves.

He said that those rules allowed such inmates to prepare their meals, while the same was only allowed by burning coal, which was injurious to health when used regularly and that food also had a taste of coal.

The counsel said that attendance in the prison was taken after 7pm in summer and 5pm in the winter and thereafter, barracks were closed and prisoners couldn`t cook food for themselves even outside due to which 3,300 prisoners suffered in central prison alone.

He argued that there were no alternative measures for prisoners to cook andthe one given there was unhygienic and notuptothe standard.

An additional advocate general informed the court that prison authorities had constructed a new kitchen on the premises after the petition was filed.

He added that prisoners would be allowed to cook for themselves in the new cooking area.

The additional advocate general also presented photos of the newly-constructed kitchen.

The bench observed that the grievance of the petitioners had been addressed through the construction of the kitchen.