Shifting Sukesh from jail hazardous: Police to Supreme Court

The court directed authorities at Mandoli Jail to ensure nothing untoward happens to him before the court examines his request next month to transfer him to another jail

Transferring conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar to any other jail will be “hazardous”, the Delhi Police told the Supreme Court on Monday, even as the court directed authorities at Mandoli Jail to ensure nothing untoward happens to him before the court examines his request next month to transfer him to another jail.

Sukesh Chandrashekhar’s lawyers sought time to respond to the affidavit, after which the bench posted the matter in the second week of January.

Dismissing his claims that he was assaulted inside Mandoli Jail as an “afterthought”, the Delhi Police filed an affidavit on Monday saying none of the allegations has been substantiated in an enquiry conducted by jail authorities. Denying his allegations that he was kicked in the genitals by jail officials, the police said none of this was established from medical records or CCTV footage that were examined after his complaint.

“There is absolutely no threat to the life of the petitioners (Sukesh and his wife Leena Paulose)...the petitioner is only making up an excuse to repeat his modus operandi in some other prison where prison officials will not be familiar with his antics,” the affidavit filed by DCP, Economic Offences Wing Anyesh Roy said.

The police said that based on Sukesh’s past conduct, the Tihar Jail and Mandoli Jail have put in place safeguards to ensure there is no “misuse of jail facilities”, since Sukesh was found to have allegedly bribed jail officials to allow him unrestricted access to a mobile phone and office space.

“Transferring the petitioners to any other prison would be hazardous as the petitioner is likely to repeat the same mischief and offences from within the jail as he has done on repeated occasions in the past,” the affidavit said.

The bench of justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi posted the matter in the second week of January after Sukesh’s lawyers sought time to respond to the affidavit. Meanwhile, the court told advocate Rajat Nair, appearing for the central government, “Take cognizance of his complaint so that nothing untoward happens.”

The court had issued a notice to the Centre and Delhi Police last month on Sukesh’s plea to be shifted to any other jail, after he claimed he was threatened and physically assaulted on two instances. “It is not safe to live in the custody of gthe jail authority of any jail which is under the interference and control of Delhi prisons authority, and Director General Prisons even for a single day,” Sukesh said in the petition.

Sukesh said it was after his complaint that 105 jail officials are facing a probe for extorting more than ₹12 crore as “protection money” from him. Of them, 81 jail staff and 14 superintendents and deputy superintendents have been arrested and as many as 100, some of them posted at Mandoli jail, are facing enquiry.

According to Sukesh, he was threatened by an assistant superintendent on August 25 who demanded ₹25 lakh protection money. Later on August 31, he claimed that another assistant superintendent at Mandoli threatened him with dire consequences. He came with 15 CRPF personnel, who allegedly assaulted him after which he underwent treatment at RML hospital.