Bhuvana Marni
Published on: October 19, 2022 at 23:16 IST
Conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar and Leena Paulose requested on Tuesday that they be transferred from Mandoli jail to any other jail where the current Director General (Prisons) of Delhi is not in charge, but the Supreme Court of India declined to hear their writ case.
The pair was transferred from Tihar Jail to Mandoli Jail in Delhi on August 26 as a result of the Supreme Court’s ruling from the previous day, August 23.
The Court’s decision followed Sukesh’s filing of a writ case under Article 32 of the Indian Constitution, in which he claimed that Tihar officials were torturing him to extract money from him.
The Enforcement Directorate refuted the claims and asserted that Sukesh was running his extortion business from jail with the complicity of certain officers, against whom action had been taken.
The counsel for Sukesh claimed that he was also being abused in the new jail during today’s hearing before a Bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and CT Ravikumar.
“He is being assaulted in jail. He is being asked to pay Rs 25 lakhs. He is being pressurized to withdraw the statement made under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and also the writ petition filed before the Delhi High Court seeking an enquiry by the CBI”, he argued.
“When was he transferred?”, the Bench queried.
On August 26, the counsel responded by stating that Mandoli is only one of the facility’s sections and that the DG (Prisons) oversees the whole Tihar jail as a whole. The 14th prison in Tihar is called Mandoli.
But the Court was not persuaded by these arguments.
“After the matter being considered by this Court on August 23, the petitioner was shifted on August 26. In a short span, he has come again, with the present writ petition seeking transfer from Mandoli jail to any other jail which is not within the control of the present DG (Prisons). For this grievance, we find no reason to entertain the present petition seeking transfer of jail”, the order read.
Case Title: Sukash Chandra Shekhar @ Sukesh and Anr. Versus Union of India and Anr.