Unitech honchos living it up in Tihar Jail: Judge

New Delhi: LED TV, coconut water, crates of mineral water, badminton rackets and household items were among the prohibited things found in the prison cell of Unitech MD Sanjay Chandra and his brother Ajay, lodged in Tihar Jail for allegedly cheating homebuyers

This was communicated to the Delhi high court by additional sessions judge Ramesh Kumar-II, who carried out inspection on September 4 following complaints from other inmates that the Chandra brothers and others jailed for white collar crimes were enjoying “luxurious lifestyle”. He said in a report that the circumstances indicated “corruption” and “grave misuse of power” on the part of the director general (DG), prisons, and Tihar Jail officials.

A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V.K. Rao on Friday issued notice to the AAP government; DG, prisons; and senior officials of Tihar Jail seeking their stand on the matter by February 1, 2019.

In the report, Mr Kumar-II has recommended that an FIR be registered against DG, prisons, and officials of Tihar Jail as such activities also pose an “extra burden on the public exchequer”.

He has said that apart from household amenities, including mattresses, mu-stard oil, foot-mats and stools, in their cell, the brothers also enjoyed a separate “office” room with a computer with Internet, a printer as well as eatables and mineral water.

On the duo’s claim that they had bought Aquafina mineral water from the jail canteen, the judicial officer found that only Bis-leri was sold there. Apart from that, the steel nets in the barracks housing the Chandra brot-hers were covered with blankets and boards “to avoid smell or outer air” from going into their cell, the report said.

It also said that such facilities cannot be provided to any inmate without the “involvement” and “k-nowledge” of the DG, prisons and other officials of Tihar Jail and proved as “positive” the complaint made by 25 inmates of the jail in their letter.  

The report also indicates that jail officials had told the ASJ that the letter was written by inmates to pressurise them into providing extra facilities to the other prisoners which was not permissible under the jail manual.