"Only seen in fiction:" Delhi High Court seeks status report on death of undertrial stabbed in Tihar Jail

The gruesome murder of an undertrial prisoner in Tihar jail prompted strong reaction from the Delhi High Court which termed it a "serious matter" and sought a status report from the Delhi government about the incident (Ali Sher vs GNCTD). .A single-judge Bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh directed the government to state whether or not any FIR has been registered in the relation to the incident and whether CCTV footage of the cell has been recovered and preserved. .Information was also sought on status of the investigation and if a chargesheet has been filed. .In the present case, the deceased, who was in Tihar Jail since September 2019, succumbed to nine knife-stab wounds in November 2020. .The Court remarked that such things were only seen in fiction. "This is a serious matter.. We need to do something more (when such cases come before court)," it added. .During the course of the hearing, Justice Singh also raised concerns with respect to the preservation and confiscation of CCTV footage from jails. .Counsel for the deceased's father (petitioner), advocate Vishal Sehijpal informed the Court that a magisterial enquiry into the matter was pending..Counsel for Delhi government, advocate Sanjoy Ghose informed that an FIR has already been filed in connection with the incident at Police Station Hari Nagar..Alleging negligence on part of the jail authorities, the petitioner has sought compensation of Rs 5 crores from the Delhi government. ."When a person is in custody of police or the jail authorities for that matter, it is the paramount duty of the police / jail authority to keep the said person safe, secure and alive and in the present case, the jail has failed in all counts thus leading to murder of the petitioner's son," the petition reads. .The matter would be heard next on March 5.