India, Dec. 20 -- Inmates of Tihar's open jail will soon be able to use mobile phones, albeit, with some limitations, with the jail authorities in the process of coming up with a standard operating procedure (or SOP) for this, officials familiar with the matter said.

The move is unprecedented, comes in the wake of am October directive of the Delhi High Court to the authorities to come up with a plan for mobile access for open jail inmates, and is aimed to balance the need for security, with the larger objective of rehabilitating prisoners who are considered safe enough to be housed in the open jail.

Tihar's open jail is set to complete 10 years in 2026. An open jail is a correctional facility where inmates with good conduct are allowed ...