In the reply submitted before UT Judicial Magistrate (Ist Class) Jasbir Singh, superintendent R.D. Sharma said the accused was never misbehaved with, or scolded, for supporting an open beard.

The allegations were vague and motivated. Being a religious-minded person, such a behaviour could not be expected of him. Even the jail staff had been instructed to behave properly with inmates and complaints of misbehaviour had never been received, he added.

Emphasising on the arrangements made for the accused to carry out discourses, Sharma said barracks were provided with wooden shelves for keeping gutka and other books.

The superintendent had earlier been issued a notice on accused Baljit Singh's application alleging misbehaviour. Seeking directions against such behaviour, the accused had said that his religious sentiments had been hurt. Baljit Singh and another accused Satnam Singh are currently lodged in Burail Jail for allegedly conspiring to smuggle explosives into the prison.

According to the prosecution, the explosives, allegedly recovered from Satnam Singh, were to be used for blowing up a portion of the jail for releasing Jagtar Singh Hawara and other alleged assassins of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh.