New Delhi, Sep 28 Unnecessary use of violence against inmates by jail authorities is totally impermissible, the Delhi High Court has said while warning a prison warden of stern action in future.
The high court issued the warning to the warden after scrutinising June 26 CCTV footage of the Tihar prison complex that showed some inmates quarrelling and the officer hitting them to disperse them.
After the inmates dispersed, the warden returned with more jail staff, brought the prisoners out of their cells and started beating them again, which the high court said was "unnecessary and uncalled for".
"The CCTV footage does not show any threat from the inmates to the warden on the second occasion and hence, it is reiterated, that the use of violence and beating after the situation had been controlled was totally unnecessary," a bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Dinesh Bhatt said in a September 23 order.
The court said the warden has been cautioned that using unnecessary beating or violence against inmates is absolutely impermissible.
He has also been cautioned that in future, if such conduct is repeated, the court will not hesitate in taking stern action.
There was no audio in the footage, but the warden claimed that the inmates were using abusive language while addressing him.
To this, the bench said, "Even if that was so, hitting the inmates with a danda (stick), especially when they had dispersed and had returned to their cells, was unnecessary as none of the inmates was armed when they came out from their respective cells."
While the prosecutor submitted that the inmates were found in possession of a knife and a needle, the court said the CCTV footage does not show any threat from the prisoners to the warden on the second occasion.
As the court issued the warning to the warden, he tendered an unconditional apology and expressed regret over his conduct.
The court was hearing an appeal by a man who is serving a life sentence for sexually assaulting a minor. He was one of the inmates injured in the June incident in Tihar jail and had suffered a forearm fracture.
The court noted that according to the authorities' status report, the man did not have the financial means to undergo surgery for his fracture. It directed that he be examined by the medical officer in jail and, if required, further treatment be provided to him at a government hospital.
