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Court seeks Tihar response on Rana plea to call kin
In an August 7 order, the court had allowed Rana to talk to his family members, including his brother in Canada “for the limited purpose of engaging a private counsel”
A Delhi court has sought an explanation from Tihar jail authorities for not letting 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks accused Tahawwur Rana speak to his family over phone for the purpose of hiring a private lawyer despite an order passed by the court for the same.
Special judge (NIA) Chanderjit Singh of Patiala House Court sought a status report on September 8, after Rana, who appeared before the court through video conferencing, told the judge that he has not yet been able to speak to his brother through the jail’s phone call facility, according to Rana’s legal-aid counsel advocate Piyush Sachdeva.
In an August 7 order, the court had allowed Rana to talk to his family members, including his brother in Canada “for the limited purpose of engaging a private counsel”, thrice for 10 minutes each within a period of four weeks. Rana is currently represented by a legal-aid counsel provided to him.
Sachdeva said, “The court asked the superintendent to explain as to why contempt action should not be taken against them for not following the court’s orders. The superintendent told the court that an approval has been sought from NIA…till recently, Rana has not been allowed to speak to his family despite over a month of court’s directions”.
The matter will be taken up by the court again on September 19.
