The Central Jail in Nasik is one of the most important jails in India, where number of serious convicts have been held, since its establishment. The jail is located on a huge sprawling place at Jail Road, Nasik. Many hard core criminals, terrorists, film stars, business tycoons and politicians have been inmates of the Nashik Central Jail.
The jail consists of high security cells, which are round, and have a CCTV provision with a grill on top to let in the light. The prisoners are never let out of the jail, other than when they need to go for their trials.
The prisoners are allowed to work in the kitchen, barracks, handlooms, leather shop, furniture shop, bakery, tailoring department, chemical department and farms. These are the only jobs here that demand human labor. The work time for the prisoners is from 7.30am to 4.30pm and they are allowed to make transactions with their banks, to save money or even send the money home. There is a meeting near the entrance where convicts are allowed 20minutes a month to meet their families and under trials are allowed 20 minutes a week for the same.
The food quantity fixed per prisoner in the Central Jail is - two rotis and 1 vegetable. Outside food is not allowed but the prisoners are given an allowance of ₹1500 a month and are allowed to purchase food from the canteen. They are provided with a library, gym equipment for exercise and regular medical checkups. There are three attendances conducted on the prisoners daily, one during wakeup call, the second when they leave for work and the third when they are back to their barracks.
There were many famous people who spent time in the Nashik Central Jail. Sane Guruji wrote his famous novel “Shyam chi Aai” while in this jail. The famous freedom fighter Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was also inhabited year for some time. Famed Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt was also kept in this jail for sometime. Praveen Mahajan was put in here for murdering his high profile politician brother Pramod Mahajan; Sadhvi Pragya Singh: the Malegaon blast accused and Abdul Karim Telgi, the prime accused in the multi-crore stamp scam are also housed currently housed in the Nashik Central Jail.
