SC sends conman Sukesh to Mandoli jail; denies probe on extortion charge at Tihar

The ED informed the court that upon investigation into the ₹215 crore extortion case executed by conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar between July 2020 and August 2021, he paid ₹12.5 crore as bribes to jail officials

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the transfer of conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar and his wife from Delhi’s Tihar jail to Mandoli jail and “consciously” decided not to deal with his allegation of extortion against prison officials as ‘the matter ought to be left to the concerned authorities to handle’.

Supreme Court of India. (PTI File Photo)

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) claimed that over ₹12 crore, alleged as extortion amount by Chandrashekhar, was paid as bribes to prison officials at Tihar who have since been suspended.

“We have not consciously gone into the allegations made by the petitioner as no clap occurs unless there are two hands,” the bench of justices S Ravindra Bhat and Sudhanshu Dhulia said.

Appearing for the ED, additional solicitor general (ASG) SV Raju opposed Chandrashekhar’s transfer from Tihar. According to him, strong actions of suspension and transfer were initiated against 80 odd officials following revelations of hefty bribe paid by the conman to jail authorities.

Since then, Chandrashekhar found it difficult to continue with his illegal activities of extortion and cheating from inside prison. Hence, the allegations levelled by him was a ploy to shift to another jail to implement his nefarious plans.

Finding jail officials to be equally guilty, “Who is at fault,” the bench asked Raju. The ASG said the accused who is wanted in several crimes across many states had impersonated top officials in the ministry and extorted ₹215 crore in tranches from one Aditi Singh, promising to get her husband – former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh – out on bail.

“We are afraid if he still indulges in such activity from another jail, it will be unfortunate. The facts of what he has done in jail are gross and glaring. The jail officials were on his payroll, allowing him uninterrupted use of cellphone inside the jail to pass documents and information to his associates outside jail,” Raju claimed.

“Have you registered any FIR on whatever he did in jail? When we asked you about this you had no answer,” the bench told ED.

As the ED is already investigating the matter of exchange of bribes in the ₹215 crore extortion case, the bench said, “It appears that the respondent (ED) has taken action against several jail officials and staff. Whether this bears out the petitioner’s allegation (of extortion) or proves the ED allegation (of bribery) is not for this court to investigate. It is best left to the concerned authorities to do so.”

As the ED appearing in the matter had on an earlier occasion agreed to shift him to Mandoli jail, which is manned by central security forces, the bench ordered both the conman and his wife Leena Paulose to be shifted to Mandoli prisons within a week.

ASG Raju remarked, “His letters (sent from jail to associates) read like a crime novel,” to which the bench said, “We are sure he will make money out of that.”

The order came despite Chandrashekhar filing an affidavit before the court refusing to be shifted to Mandoli. According to his lawyers, senior advocate R Basant and advocate Ashok Singh, he was being tortured in Tihar ever since he revealed the extortion racket in jail, which included even the director general, the topmost officer at Tihar.

Basant told the court that if he is shifted to a jail within Delhi, the same officer will exercise his control and authority to inflict similar harm on him at the said place. Hence, he requested the court to shift him to any jail in the national capital region (NCR) or even as distant as Port Blair.

But the bench asked Basant, “Prima facie we see no reason to transfer you. You may be extorting or somebody else may be extorting. That is perhaps you have lots of money. You do not dispute that you have paid over ₹12 crore. But where is the perceptible threat that you face? If we are to accept your submission, there are 500,000 prisoners in the country. We will then be entertaining a petition for transfer of jail by all and sundry.”

Chandrashekhar had in the past told the court that he was forced to pay extortion sums to jail officials for his safety as they threatened to harm him. He even alleged that he was physically assaulted inside jail on May 14. But Tihar authorities claimed that it was a lie, and produced the medical examination record conducted the same day at Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital which showed no external injury. This report by the examining doctor was not produced by the conman in his petition.

The ED intervened in the proceedings after an order passed on May 17 by the top court allowed him to be shifted to another jail, with the choice being left to the concerned authorities. The ED sought recall of this order showing the conman’s conduct inside prison.

The ED informed the court that upon investigation into the ₹215 crore extortion case executed by Chandrashekhar between July 2020 and August 2021, he paid ₹12.5 crore as bribes to jail officials. In return, they ensured he got a special meeting room and unhindered phone access behind bars ‘to run his crime syndicate’.

Following the incident, Tihar authorities replaced staff, tightened vigil inside the prison and improvised security measures.

Chandrashekhar has been lodged in Tihar jail since April 2017, except for a brief spell at the Rohini jail. His wife Leena Paulose, a co-accused in his criminal activities, was also lodged in Tihar. The ED probing the money trail of the conman’s crime syndicate found that he used the extortion amount to live a luxurious life, purchase property and spend on expensive gifts and bribes to jail officials.