Delhi High Court
Al-Falah Trust (Regd) vs The Ministry Of Home Affairs And ... on 8 February, 2002
Equivalent citations: 2002 VIIIAD Delhi 341, 97 (2002) DLT 812
Author: Khan
Bench: B Khan, V Aggarwal
JUDGMENT
Khan, J.
1. Petitioner is the President of AL-FALAH Trust and
claims to be espousing promotion of fundamental rights and
cause for rooting out corruption from Government
institutions.
2. Petitioner has filed this petition in public
interest in 1996 couched in generalised terms and pointing
to some lapse in the running of Tihar Jail. He cites
number of instances in support. According to him, one
inmate Gajraj Singh had committed suicide on being fed up
with jail conditions and the other inmate Subhash Gupta was
rescued at last minute. Similarly, one under-trial was
released without any orders and the order one Sagar Haldar
had escaped and absconded. He prays for investigation of
all these incidents by CBI which would uncover "rampant
corruption and human rights violations being allegedly
committed in the jail". He has supported his pleas by
newspaper clippings.
3. Respondents 2-3 have expectedly denied the
allegations. It is admitted by them that Gajraj had
committed suicide on 7.9.96 who was otherwise suffering
from fits and abnormal behavior and in which inquiry was
being conducted by SDM. Subhash Gupta was also found to
have consumed some sleeping pills but was rescued and FIR
No. 714/96 registered under Section 309 IPC. So was it done
in case of Haldar who has escaped. It is denied that
under-trial Arvind Kumar was released in the absence of any
court orders or any human rights violations were being
committed in the jail or that it had become an abode of any
custodial death or torture.
4. This petition has remained pending since December
1996 and record shows that Supreme Court was also seized of
a similar matter in WP No. 402/94 filed by International
Watch-dog but its outcome is not know. Apart from this,
much water has flowed down ever since and we are told that
jail conditions had undergone a sea change in the course of
time and Delhi Jail Bill, 1999 was also awaiting
President's assent. That being so, it is too late in the
day to ask CBI to investigate into the incidents raised by
petitioner. However, D.G. Prisons is directed to examine
the fate of these cases and submit a status report to
Registrar General of this court with a copy to petitioner
within three months from receipt of this order. Should
petitioner have any further grievance in this regard, it
shall be open to him to reagitate the matter. Registry to
send a copy of this order to DG, Prisons for compliance.
