Furnish names, details of payments made to Tihar jail officials: Supreme Court to Sukesh Chandrasekhar

The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked imprisoned conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar to reveal the names of Tihar jail officials to whom he made payments amounting to over ₹12.5 crores to secure a lavish lifestyle inside the jail [Sukash Chandra Shekhar @ Sukesh & Anr. v Union of India & Anr.]..A Bench of Justices Uday Umesh Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat and Sudhanshu Dhulia said it would not shirk away from entering into details of the allegations before deciding on whether he needs to be moved out Tihar jail, where he is presently lodged."To conclude whether the petitioner was running a syndicate or bribing his way through, it would be key to identify persons who have made the payments. We therefore call on him to submit the names of who [were] paid and to whom the payments were made by the next date of hearing" the Bench stated in its order..Chandrasekhar was allegedly leading a lavish life inside Tihar jail where he is lodged after being arrested for cheating and extortion besides money laundering charges.Chandrasekhar approached the top court seeking transfer to any other jail, preferably outside Delhi, alleging that his life and safety were under threat from some prison officials in Tihar.In June, a Supreme Court vacation bench had ordered that he be transferred but when the matter came up again, it decided to post it before the regular bench, noting that there was no urgency in the matter..At today's hearing, Senior Advocate R Basant, appearing for Chandrasekhar, admitted that his client had paid crores of rupees while in jail but said that he could not reveal the names of the public officials and others, to whom and through whom, the payments were made.To this, Justice Lalit sternly remarked, "Get the names tomorrow! We're not going to shirk away. When will you give the names?"Basant then replied saying he was not hesitating to share the names and would reveal them on affidavit in seven to ten days.But the Bench refused to budge."If you're running a complete racket using staff, we'd like to know the names of whom you paid as extortion. You've ignited the process, very good. Now we'll try and ensure this doesn't happen again, we thank you for igniting," it remarked..The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had submitted an affidavit informing the Court that while he was in jail, Chandrasekhar had been running a crime syndicate, paying ₹1.5 crores every month for facilities like using phones and that some jail officials were on his payroll. Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the ED, submitted that Chandrasekhar had impersonated government officials and even Supreme Court judges and sought grant of bail. He argued that Chandrasekhar was now attempting to continue this modus operandi from other jails..The Bench listed the matter for July 26, and asked the ED to continue ensuring his safety..[Follow our coverage of today's hearing]