Thaindian News

New Delhi, Jan 20 (IANS) Tihar Jail authorities have termed as “false” the findings of a study brought out by a civil liberties organisation that described living conditions in the prison as “poor”.

“Though I have not seen the report, from whatever I heard from media, the findings which mention that the jail provides poor living conditions to inmates and is biased towards high-profile prisoners are false,” a senior jail official, pleading anonymity, told IANS.

“Beyond the Prison Gates: A Report on Living Conditions in Tihar Jail” was released by civil liberties organisation Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) Thursday.

The report, which lambasts the jail authorities and highlights its shoddy functioning, was prepared by PUDR after talking to friends and relatives of the inmates and from data on Tihar’s website.

“On the question of poor living conditions, every jail in the Tihar complex is visited by an additional sessions judge. They inspect every nook and corner of the jail once or twice a month for about 3 to 4 hours. If they indicate any malfunctioning, action is taken immediately,” the jail official said.

According to the report, high-profile inmates get the comforts of fans and televisions while others are subjected to violence by cliques of prisoners who are given the task of maintaining discipline within the cells.

“This is totally false and frivolous. We are not giving any special facility to high profile prisoners. Such prisoners mostly spend their time in court,” the authority said.

“Before releasing the report to the media, they should have shown it to us,” the jail official added.

Tihar, one of the largest prison complexes in South Asia, houses almost 12,200 prisoners against the sanctioned strength of 6,250.