Supreme Court asks conman Sukesh to come clean on payments made to jail officials

The order came on Sukesh Chandrashekhar’s petition seeking transfer to any jail outside Delhi citing threat to his life and safety at the Tihar Jail.

Anxious over how conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar managed to make payments of ₹12.5 crore to officials at Tihar and Rohini jails, claimed by him to be “extortion” money to ensure his safety in custody, the Supreme Court on Wednesday asked him to come clean with all details by July 26. The court ordered him to provide the identities of the people who made those payments and to whom.

The Supreme Court. (ANI)

The order came on Chandrashekhar’s petition seeking transfer to a jail outside Delhi citing a threat to his life at the Tihar Jail. Chandrashekhar faced uncomfortable questions from the court while countering the allegations that hefty bribes of approximately ₹1.5 crore were paid to jail officials responsible for his safety and to run his crime syndicate of extortion and cheating from inside the prison from July 2020 to August 2021.

The Delhi Police came to know about this while probing a complaint by the wife of jailed former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh. Chandrashekhar allegedly extorted over ₹215 crore from her. Jail officials allegedly allowed him to use a mobile phone and special facility to carry out his crime syndicate.

A bench of justices UU Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat, and Sudhanshu Dhulia said to come to the conclusion on whether the petitioner was subjected to extortion or he was running a crime syndicate and bribed his way through, it will be necessary to understand the identity of persons who made the payments. “We call upon the petitioner to make a list of persons who made payments and to whom they were made.”

The court directed the Tihar authorities, represented by additional solicitor general SV Raju, to ensure Chandrashekhar’s safety.

Chandrashekhar’s lawyer, R Basant, sought time to assist the court with the details. He told the court the payments were made through his client’s associates outside the jail. Basant said the information about payments was conveyed during the time given to visitors to meet prisoners inside the jail.

The bench said it will now get to the root and ensure that hereafter nobody ever dreams to do this.

Raju told the court Chandrashekhar was using contractual staff employed in the jail to pass chits to his associates outside the jail. He added the chits showed that he was hardly able to do anything at Tihar after the accused officials were suspended and loopholes were plugged. Raju said Chandrashekhar told his associates to wait till he is shifted to a jail in Bengaluru or Chennai.

The court asked Basant about the transactions from July 2020 to August 2021. “Your complaint in this regard was in March 2022. Why did you not raise any complaint at that juncture?” It referred to the payment of over ₹12 crore and asked: “To command that kind of assets, what are you doing and what is your reported earning?”

Basant showed the bench an order of a vacation bench of the top court in June asking for alternative jails where Chandrashekhar could be transferred. The bench said that was only a temporary view and did not bind them in considering the allegations. “If we have to accept your petition, we must come to the conclusion that you were forcibly put under so much pressure that you had to cough up ₹12.5 crore.”

Raju informed the court that Chandrashekhar signed the cheques for the payments and since conditions were not conducive for him to carry on extortion anymore, he was desperate to go to another jail to resume his activities.

The bench replied, “While we have to ensure physical safety of the petitioner, we must also ensure that public servants are not put to such inconvenient situations.”

Thirty-four cases are pending against Chandrashekhar mostly in Delhi courts. Chandrashekhar has mostly been lodged at Tihar Jail from April 2017. He was briefly moved to Rohini jail. His wife, Leena Paulose, is also lodged at Tihar Jail.

The Enforcement Directorate, which is probing his activities, found Chandrashekhar maintained a luxurious life, bought property and paid expensive gifts and bribes to jail officials.