A Delhi court on Monday directed the superintendent of Tihar Jail No.3 to appear in person to present the rules governing the lodging of undertrial prisoners in various categories depending on the risks they pose to maintaining security in the prison.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vidya Parkash passed the order after an undertrial prisoner in judicial custody complained that he had been shifted to the high-risk category arbitrarily.
“Concerned jail superintendent (of jail no. 3) is directed to appear in person along with relevant rules, guidelines and policy on the basis of which a decision is taken for lodging an undertrial prisoner in a particular category,” the court ordered.
The complainant, Aman Alam, is accused in a cheating and forgery case for allegedly running a fake passport and visa racket. He was earlier lodged in Jail No:1 under the Separate Armed Guard (SAG) category and then shifted by the jail authorities to high-risk category. He alleged that the shift was done because he had protested against not receiving treatment for various ailments at a government hospital. He told the court that only terrorists are put in the high-risk category.
The court while directing that medical treatment be provided to Aman and his brother Harshad, noted that the additional superintendents of Jail No: 1 and 3, though present, could not give a convincing order for the shift.
Aman and Harshad along with four others were earlier discharged by a Sessions court of charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act but the State went in appeal and obtained a stay from the Delhi High Court.
In April, Honey Sharma, another accused in the case had alleged torture at the hands of a jail warden, by claiming that the warden instigated a HIV-positive woman prisoner to extort money from her.