HC reserves order in Arthur Road jail assault

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday reserved its order in the case pertaining to the assault on inmates of Arthur Road Jail last year.

The state government,meanwhile,justified its action pertaining to the assault. Petitioners lawyer Khan Abdul Wahab pointed out to the court that there were two judicial reports regarding the assault and both were in favour of the petitioners. Saeed Sohail Sheikh,son of Sohail Mehmoob Sheikh,an accused in the 7/11 serial blasts case,had moved the HC alleging assault on prison inmates at the Arthur Road prison.

However,according to an affidavit submitted by prison superintendent Swati Sathe,the jail inmates undertrials Dr Tanveer Ansari and Kamal Ansari accused in 7/11 blasts had started shouting slogans like Pakistan Zindabad Hindustan Murdabad. The two were soon joined by 21 other undertrials shouting the slogans. It was then that the jail authorities gathered them to be transferred to another prison in the state. According to the reply,the special MCOCA court had granted Sathe permission to transfer some of the inmates to other prisons due to overcrowding at the Arthur Road prison.

The petition however,alleged that Sathe and the other jail staffers gathered all the accused in a hall inside the prison under the pretext of transferring them and started assaulting them. Sathe in her reply affidavit had stated that after using reasonable and required force,the situation was brought under control. affidavit filed by Anna Dani,Principal Secretary (Home),states that there was a need to use force on June 28,2008 by the authorities.

The judicial probe had,however,implicated the jail authorities concluding that they had used excess force on the inmates.

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