Delhi HC directs DG Prisons for status report on action against officials who ‘beat up’ prisoners

While prison authorities on Thursday sought four weeks to file a status report, the division bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup Jairam Bhambhani said, “At what stage are you? You can’t keep asking for time. You have to tell us what is going on. How long has it been going on? What are you waiting for?”

DG Prisons Sandeep Goel on March 15 had sought time from the court to file an affidavit on the action taken with respect to the incident which took place at Tihar jail on October 28, 2020. The court on March 8 after seeing video footage had expressed shock at the incident and directed DG Prisons to remain present.

The inmate Sameer, the petitioner before the court, while alleging victimisation at the hands of jail officials in June, sought transfer from Tihar Jail. He was later transferred to another prison in Delhi.

On June 25, a vacation bench headed by Justice Bhambhani observed that a prison complex is the backroom of the courts and judges. “If you were to take a man into my chambers and beat him up, will I stand up for it? This man is in our custody, under the custody of the court. You are our agents. If you beat him up, that means we beat him up,” the court had observed.