India, July 3 -- The Delhi Prisons has issued a fresh standard operating procedure (SOP) mandating stricter inspection and audit of all parcels sent to inmates, while also directing that no prisoner can be denied the facility except for recorded security reasons.

The June order, approved by Director General (Prisons), extends the right to receive authorised parcels from family members or legal counsel to all prisoners -- including undertrials and convicts -- without discrimination.

"All parcels must be received at the gate by the duty officer or Central Public Relation Office (CPRO), not below the rank of assistant superintendent, and opened in the presence of an officer not below the rank of deputy superintendent and, where possible, t...