LG’s panel points out gaps in Delhi jails management

According to officials privy to the details of the report, the panel has pointed out that though other parts of the jail are monitored by CCTV cameras, the offices of the superintendent and deputy superintendent are “dark spots” and may turn out to be a “hub of illegal activities”

A three-member committee constituted by the Delhi lieutenant governor VK Saxena to probe violations of jail rules by conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar and Delhi minister Satyendar Jain has also pointed out several loopholes in the administration of prisons in Delhi, and has sought remedial measures, officials aware of the development said on Monday as more details of the report have emerged.

CCTV footage from Tihar jail shows then Tihar Jail superintendent interacting with Delhi minister Satyendar Jain inside his prison cell. (ANI)

Three senior Delhi bureaucrats – principal secretary (law), principal secretary (vigilance), and principal secretary (home) – were part of the panel formed in November.

The panel had said that Jain received massage, food from outside and met his wife “in restricted places” in Tihar jail where is lodged in connection with an alleged money laundering case. The Delhi government had dismissed the report and questioned its legal validity. Delhi prisons come under direct control of the Delhi government’s home department that was being headed by Jain, before he was arrested on May 30.

Sukesh Chandrashekhar is lodged in Mandoli Jail from where he pulled off a ₹200 crore con job from inside the prison by posing as a top government bureaucrat and duping an industrialist’s wife.

According to officials privy to the details of the report, the panel has pointed out that though other parts of the jail are monitored by CCTV cameras, the offices of the superintendent and deputy superintendent are “dark spots” and may turn out to be a “hub of illegal activities”.

The report also said that the Director General (Prisons) should put in place a system of checks and balances to ensure that “influential inmates” do not misuse doctor’s recommendations for accessing special facilities inside the jail such as getting mattresses, beds or pillow.

The committee has also suggested that the DG (prisons) may put in place standard operating procedures to ensure that “influential prisoners” do not misuse their jail account cards to buy items from the jail canteen beyond the stipulated limit of Rs7,000. Prisoners can buy items such as mineral water, chips, chocolate, and sweets from the jail canteen.

Citing an instance from Mandoli Jail, the committee noted “unjust” segregation of prisoners. The panel said that it found two prisoners involved in non-heinous cases (cheque bounce and vehicle accident) lodged with a person accused of dacoity, which is a heinous crime.

While the committee’s report on violations by Jain has been reported, its findings on Chandrashhekhar are yet to be reported or released.

A prison officer said they are yet to get a copy of the report and the recommendations to remedy the loopholes. “We will take the suggestions and remedy the shortcomings,” said a prison officer who asked not to be named.