Section 106A of the SRs allows inmates to have in their possession articles such as dentures and spectacles39 ‘if it is necessary in the interests of his health and general wellbeing’. The prisoner will be allowed to keep it in his/her possession as long as it is recommended by the MO and has the written approval of the SP. In practice, it was observed that the property of prisoners is stored according to the category of the inmates i.e. remandee or convicted, and based on the value and type of property. It was noted that valuable goods, such as money or jewellery, are stored in separate safes. Cash is kept in the CJ’s safe, whilst other belongings, such as jewellery or gold, are kept in the storekeeper’s safe. In practice, any money in the possession of the remandee, if it is a small amount, will be left in the CJ’s safe. If a large amount of money is in the possession of the prisoner upon entrance to the prison, it will be deposited in the prison account, as observed at KRP. Money belonging to convicted prisoners is deposited in the prison account at the Bank of Ceylon. In KRP, for example, there is a ledger that lists all belongings inmates brought into prison, along with a detailed description of the items. For example, mobile phones are registered with the International Mobile Equipment Identity number (IMEI), while the credit card number is noted in the ‘Pudgalika badu baraganime potha’ [Personal belongings handover book] At POPC, the civil clothes of the convicts are stored only for two years. Prisoners serving sentences longer than two years would be given the national dress to wear upon release. It was found that prisons such as BRP and BATRP have very efficient storage mechanisms. An easily retrievable, orderly and colour coded storage system was used at BRP where each parcel is numbered40 and stored according to the numbers in separate drawers. The colour changes after every hundred packages. The system is organized in such a manner that even the number of the lottery ticket which was in the prisoner’s possession upon entrance is recorded. BRP SP stated that the clothes are ironed on the day before the inmate is released. BATRP has a similar colour coded system ensuring efficiency of storage and retrieval. At ACP, the possessions of the inmates, including National Identity Cards (hereinafter referred to as NICs), are wrapped and stored in drawers according to their year of birth. Possessions of inmates at the GRP are packaged according to the year and the number in the registration book: a number that is different to the prisoner numbers assigned to each person 41. This system was seen at the KGRP as well. Thus, it could be observed that the method of storage of personal items used varies from prison to prison. According to Section 427 of the DSO, the private property of all prisoners who are transferred will be dispatched with them. However, there have been issues reported in relation to the transfer of personal property when the prisoner is transferred to another prison. The Commission received complaints from two female foreign nationals that the money which they handed over upon admission to the prison was not sent along with them when they were transferred to another prison. Both of them were first imprisoned in NRP 39 DSO 1956, s 505(a), also includes items such as hernia trusses, abdominal belts and crutches. The number provided for the parcel is not the same as the number given to the prisoner. 41 Packages are numbered according to the year and the number in the registration book. Ex: 266/18 - 266 signifies the number in the registration book and 18 signifies the year 40 47