Showcause notices to Tihar jail, Delhi govt on 6 prisoner deaths

New Delhi, June 13 (UNI) Delhi High Court today issued notices to Tihar Jail authorities and the Delhi government to explain the cause of death of six prisoners within a span of six days during this month.

Taking note on a PIL filed by a social worker, Justices J P Singh and S Muralidhar of the vacation bench issued notices to Tihar Jail Superintendent and the Delhi government.

Court asked them to file an affidavit by June 14, stating the cause of death of six inmates of the Tihar Jail within a span of six days. The Court will hear the arguments on their reply on June 18.

According to the petitioner Shalek Chand Jain, Tihar jail has a number of innocent victims upon whom atrocities were often committed. The jail housed more than 15000 inmates as against the capacity of 6000. There was lack of proper water, sanitary and electricity facilities. In case of any emergency regarding medical facilities, there was only one hospital where the inmates were taken.

An inmate Vinod Kumar died in the Deen Dayal Upadhyay(DDU) hospital, followed by one Ajay Kumar (27) who died of high fever.

Harish Kumar (31) and Amit Kumar (23) suffered the same fate in the same hospital. Till now, the toll had gone up to six along with the death of one jail official.

The petitioner sought a judicial inquiry into the matter as well as urged the court to improve the conditions in the jail.

UNI