627 Tihar inmates released after HC direction

New Delhi, June 19: Acting on the Delhi High Court directions Tihar Jail authorities have released more than 600 prisioners, mostly under detention for minor offences.

In all 627 prisoners, mostly arrested under Section 107/151 Cr PC, were released late last night. These include four women and 96 adolescents, said Tihar PRO Sunil Kumar Gupta.

''All of them were released on a personal bond for their record and for further necessary action, under which they would be required to report to their local police staions daily and mark their presence.'' Most of them were caught for minor offences like breach of peace or under preventive arrests, he added.

Yesterday the Delhi High Court had ordered Tihar jail authorities to release about 600 prisoners, under preventive detention, on their furnishing a personal bond of Rs 2,000 each.

The court's direction came after various reports alluding the recent more than half-a-dozen deaths to the problem of overcrowding in the jail.

It directed the release of the 600-odd prisoners, who are languishing in jail as they have no one to stand for their surety.

''These inmates need to be set free without surety. Threat, to citizens, if any due to activities of these prisoners, can be met by directing these inmates to mark their presence with their local police stations,'' a vacation bench comprising Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice P K Bhasin had said yesterday.
Taking suo-moto action on the findings of the three-member 'Fact Finding Committee' looking into the seven deaths which occurred in the jail within a period of seven days in a row this month, the court had issued notice to the Delhi Jal Board and the Tihar officials, to reply by July 2, as to why there are no satisfactory provisions in the jail relating to the problem of water, space and other amenities.

The court had, on June 14, formed a three-member commitee to look into the cause of deaths of seven inmates of Tihar jail within a week.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Seema Maini, who was one of the committee members, had told the Court that there seemed to be a ''nexus'' between some Jail officials and ''some persons'' to keep some people in jail.

Besides the nexus, the report suggested that the reason for the deaths could be the constraint of space as Tihar has more than double the capacity of inmates than it can accomodate.

Highlighting the acute shortage of water in the jail, the report saud there were about eight outlets of water but only four of them were functional and even they worked for about half-an-hour daily in which water comes out as a trickle.

The report also said that due to the exessive number of inmates in the jail -- about 13,712 inmates against its capacity of 6,258 -- extremly harsh and hard environmental conditions existed in the jail with the ''stench of urine and sweat so strong that the fact-finding committee could not stay there for long.'' The medical facilities in the jail hospital were not satisfactory and many posts of medical officers were lying vacant, the report added.

The court while directing the Delhi Government to ensure that the sanctioned posts of the medical staff be filled, it also directed the administration to increase the number of exhaust fans in the jail cells in order to enhance inflow of fresh air and improve circulation.

While issuing notices to Tihar Jail officials, chief secretary government of NCT and Commissioner of Police, the court ordered them to respond to the committee report and reply by July 14.

UNI