PIL before Bombay High Court seeks probe into death of 4 undertrial prisoners in Pune's Yerwada jail

A Pune-based advocate has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition before the Bombay High Court highlighting the death of four inmates of Yerwada Central Prison, in mysterious circumstances. .The petitioner, advocate Tosif Shaikh has sought a proper probe either by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the deaths. He has also sought ₹1 crore compensation for the kin of the deceased prisoners. Three undertrial prisoners - Sandesh Gondekar, Shahrukh Sheikh and Ranganath Datal - had died in Pune's Sassoon hospital on December 31, 2022 allegedly due to various ailments. On July 9, last year, another undertrial, Sachin Narwade, was allegedly found hanging inside his barrack. As per the PIL, the Yerwada jail officials declared all four prisoners dead without even properly investigating about the same."These incidents anguished a large number of prisoners and people across India, including the Petitioner, who now, demands a free and fair investigation of the matter and an expeditious trial," the plea said. .In his plea, Shaikh submitted that there is no private interest in filling the PIL and it is bonafide and in larger public interest, specifically for all the welfare of jail inmates and the society. In all the incidents, the police officials have manipulated the incidents by giving some vague reasons like medical ailments as the cause of death, the petitioner further alleged."The jail officials are covering a blanket on the real cause of the deaths of the inmates," the petition claimed. .The petition also referred to the statements of the family members of deceased Shahrukh Sheikh, who had stated that just before his death, he had written a letter stating that he was well and would soon be returning home. "It is also important to state that the family members of other inmates had raised serious suspicion regarding their son’s death. It is also germane to note that the family members were not informed about the death of the 3 undertrial prisoners from hospital and family members were not allowed to see their dead bodies in hospital so even this factum substantiates a fishy episode of death of these under trial prisoner," the plea stated..The deceased prisoners deserved a fair post-mortem and inquiry by the jail officials but the jail officials failed to do the same, it was submitted.The PIL is likely to come up for hearing in due course.