Yasin Bhatkal not kept in solitary confinement, Tihar jail officials tell court

The court was hearing Bhatkal’s plea in which he has alleged that he cannot be kept in a high security cell as per previous rulings of the Supreme Court.

Tihar Central Jail officials on Tuesday told a Delhi court that Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal was not being kept in solitary confinement as there was no such cell in the prison.

Photos of Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal. (HT File Photo)

During in-camera proceedings, the jail officials said Bhatkal was kept under surveillance since there were several cases pending against him.

Read: Indian Mujahideen founder Yasin Bhatkal opposes solitary confinement in jail

The court was hearing Bhatkal’s plea in which he has alleged that he cannot be kept in a high security cell as per previous rulings of the Supreme Court.

Bhatkal’s counsel MS Khan also claimed in the application that his solitary confinement amounts to contempt of court.

“In view of the law laid down by the Supreme Court, lodging him in isolation in a separate cell was in violation of articles of the Constitution,” said Bhatkal, who was recently sentenced to the death penalty in the 2013 Hyderabad blast case and is under judicial custody in various other terror cases.

The court has listed the matter for March 25 for further hearing.

Bhatkal was arrested in August 2013 from the India-Nepal border.