Court On Its Own Motion v. Director General (Prisons) & ANR.
$~15 to 17 *
IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
(15) + W.P.(C) 10437/2017, CM APPL.
13389/2019, CM APPL.
43642/2019, CM APPL. 53784/2019 & CM APPL. 19114/2021. CHINMAY KANOJIA .....Petitioner Through:
Mr. Sanawar, Mr. Jattin, Ms. Nujhat Naseem and Ms. Sadiya, Advocates for P-2 to 6 Petitioner No.1 in person.
versus CENTRAL JAIL,TIHAR THROUGH ITS DIRECTOR GENERAL AND ANR.
.....Respondents Through:
Mr. Anuj Aggarwal, ASC, GNCTD with Mr. Yash Upadhyay and Mr.
Siddhant Dutt, Advocates for R-1 Ms. Anubha Bhardwaj, SPP, CBI with Mr. Ujjwal Chaudhary and Mr.
Vishal Sharma, Advocates for CBI.
(16) + W.P.(C) 2975/2018 COURT ON ITS OWN MOTION .....Petitioner Through:
versus GENERAL (PRISONS) & ORS.
.....Respondents Through:
Ms. Anubha Bhardwaj, SPP, CBI with Mr. Ujjwal Chaudhary and Mr.
Vishal Sharma, Advocates for CBI.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.
(17) + W.P.(C) 2993/2018 COURT ON ITS OWN MOTION .....Petitioner Through:
versus DIRECTOR GENERAL (PRISONS) & ANR.
.....Respondents Through:
Ms. Anubha Bhardwaj, SPP, CBI with Mr. Ujjwal Chaudhary and Mr.
Vishal Sharma, Advocates for CBI
CORAM:
HON'BLE THE ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE TUSHAR RAO GEDELA
O R D E R
% 12.08.2024 1.
W.P. (C) 10437-2017 has been filed seeking constitution of a highlevel judicial enquiry into the incidents of 21st November, 2017 at the highrisk cell of Tihar jail number 1 and to examine the repeated incidents of violence against the prisoners belonging to a particular religion, especially from Kashmir.
2.
W.P. (C) 2975-2018 and W.P. (C) 2993-2018 are suo moto writ petitions registered on the basis of letters from inmates of high security jail number 3 and jail number 1 of Tihar Jail, highlighting the incidents of abuse by other inmates and jail authorities.
3.
A perusal of the record reveals that this Court, vide its Order dated 23rd November, 2017 had directed the inspection of Tihar Jail No. 1 by a committee comprising Registrar (Appellate), Joint Registrar (Judicial) and a legal aid advocate. The report dated 27th November, 2017 furnished by the The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.
committee disclosed that 18 inmates of jail number 1 had sustained injuries on the intervening night of 21st /22nd November, 2017. 4.
Thereafter, this Court vide its Order dated 27th November, 2017 directed constitution of a fact finding committee comprising the then District Judge (South-West), a professor from National Law University, Delhi and an advocate from Legal Services Committee. The said fact finding committee filed its report dated 3rd February, 2018. 5.
Subsequently, this Court vide its order dated 15th May, 2018 directed enquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation. 6.
This Court has perused the status report dated 7th August, 2021 filed on behalf of the CBI, which reveals that CBI filed a closure report in RC33(S)/2018/CBI/SC-III/New Delhi. The CBI found that the inmates created hurdle in performance of public duty, which led to a scuffle between the jail authorities and the inmates in jail number 1. It has also been stated in the status report that Self Contained Note has been sent to Director General, Prisons, NCT of Delhi regarding improvement of prison facilities and staff. 7.
In view of the fact that CBI has carried out further enquiry which has led to filing of a closure report, the present writ petitions are disposed of with liberty to the petitioner /aggrieved persons to file a protest petition against the closure report, if they so desire, in accordance with law. ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE TUSHAR RAO GEDELA, J AUGUST 12, 2024 ms The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.