Delhi High Court invites suggestions from city government, NGO on Tihar jail issues

Suggestions were on Wednesday invited by the Delhi High Court on various issues, including alleged torture of inmates and circulation of drugs in Tihar Jail, saying it will issue directions later to deal with the same.

A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw invited the suggestions from Delhi government and an NGO, Multi Action Research Group, according to which circulation of drugs, violence between inmates as well as torture of undertrials is going on un-checked.

The bench also sought suggestions from senior advocate Colin Gonsalves in another petition pertaining to the death of an undertrial, lodged in Tihar, due to malnutrition. 

The court has also sought the assistance of noted academician DD Pandey in coming out with suggestions to address the issues raised in the petitions before the high court on the conditions prevailing in Tihar Jail.

During the proceedings, the bench was informed that several visiting judges to Tihar had observed in their reports submitted in 2012 that the prison was overcrowded and incidents of drug circulation, prisoner torture, violence, etc were going on unabated.

Despite these reports, no action has been taken till date against the concerned officials of the jail, Gonsalves told the court. In the matter pertaining to the death of an undertrial due to malnutrition, the court was told that the inmate was lodged in Tihar as he was an accused in a case related to a fire in the old-age home he was living in.

The inmate, who hailed from Kerala, was being fed through a feeding tube attached to his stomach as his throat and mouth had been damaged after he had consumed acid in 2005.

His health started deteriorating from December 2011 due to various reasons including medical negligence as well as bacterial infection, as per the inquiry report submitted in 2013 by a District Judge who had probed the matter.