Attitude of jail authorities can't be that inmates deserve to be beaten up: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday remarked that the attitude of people charged with maintaining prisons cannot be that inmates deserve to be beaten [Sameer Through His Parokar Faizan Anwar v The State of NCT of Delhi and Ors]..Even though it is not an easy job, the requirement of law cannot be thrown to the wind, it added.Pertinently, the Bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup Jairam Bhambhani added that when a person is lodged in jail as an undertrial or as a convict, all their constitutional rights continue except the right to personal liberty.The Court was hearing a petition filed by a Tihar inmate, Mohammed Sameer, who alleged that he was brutally beaten inside the jail and that money was being demanded from him for a "peaceful stay" there.“The attitude can’t be that these chaps deserve it. It can’t be that who cares. We have already held that the only right that any convict or undertrial prisoner is denied in judicial custody is his personal liberty. All other constitutional rights of convict or undertrial are available to him. They are not suspended,” the judges remarked during the course of the hearing..The Court was hearing a petition filed through advocates Sharad Malhotra and Harshit Chopra. The allegations were first made by the petition in 2016 after which the trial court directed his transfer to another jail; however he was transferred to another ward. The prison administration put restrictions on his meetings with relatives.In October 2020, the petitioner was again beaten up after he allegedly refused to pay money to the jail officials. This was brought to the knowledge of the Court after which a report and CCTV footage was called for. A status report was also filed in which the jail authorities denied all allegations. The State argued that the injuries were inflicted on the petitioner's body himself. The State further submitted that the CCTV cameras were not functioning at the time due to a technical fault. The footage, however, was submitted before the High Court..Justice Bhambhani after examining the videos asked what was the need to beat up the petitioner after he was locked in his cell. “Tihar is supposed to be mode. CCTV footage shows you chasing him into the cell. The minute he was back in his cell what was the need? All you had to do was to lock the cell," the judge said.It seemed that the beating was to set an example for other inmates, he added. "Violence only begets violence. You wanted to set an example.”.The Court, therefore, asked the Director General of Prisons to be present on the next day of hearing to assist the Court in addressing the issue. The Court added that there needs to be broad consultations on the issue and listed the case for further hearing on January 21, 2022.