New Delhi, Jul 21 The Tihar prison authorities on Tuesday filed a reply on a plea by US citizen Matthew Aaron Van Dyke, an alleged 'mercenary' accused of involvement in a terror conspiracy case, who sought an "American diet" during his stay in prison.
Earlier this month, advocates Rohit Dandriyal and Rohit Gour, counsel for Dyke, said they moved the application before Special Judge Prashant Sharma seeking permission to provide him with an American-style diet on humanitarian grounds.
Dyke, accused of involvement in a terror conspiracy case for links to ethnic armed groups in India and Myanmar, is presently in judicial custody and is lodged in Tihar Jail.
The advocates said that on Tuesday, the reply had been submitted by the jail superintendent concerned.
They said that it was submitted to the court that their client was suffering from health ailments because of which he could not consume the "oily" and "spicy" Indian food, and to protect the dignity of the accused, a constitutional mandate, he could be provided the food he had been accustomed to.
The advocates said they also requested the court to allow their client to cook his own food.
They said that the court agreed to the submissions and directed the jail superintendent to provide a cook for preparing Dyke's meals.
The advocates said that Judge Sharma also asked the authorities to take care of Dyke's health.
They said that both counsel would visit the jail tomorrow to meet Dyke in the presence of the medical officer and the jail superintendent, and the cook would then prepare a meal in their presence.
The advocates did not specify the list of 'American-style' food items sought by Dyke, nor those which the court reportedly allowed, but said that it would be known only after they visited the prison on Wednesday.
They said that the court also allowed that Dyke be provided with an electronic kettle and a mosquito net.
The court had earlier sought a response from the prison authorities on an application by Dyke, according to which he was apparently on a "hunger strike" for around 50 days, during which he consumed mostly liquids such as soy milk, as he was unable "to tolerate the spicy, oily and deep-fried food" ordinarily served in prison.
Dyke, a US citizen, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on March 13, along with six Ukrainian nationals, after they allegedly infiltrated India from Myanmar via the Mizoram border before being intercepted at various domestic airports across the country.
The group, suspected to have been operating as mercenaries, is being probed for a wide-ranging terror conspiracy, including assistance to ethnic armed groups in India and Myanmar, and imparting drone training to them.
