"Give Names" : Supreme Court Asks Alleged Conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar To Reveal Details Of Payments Made To Prison Officials

The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar to divulge the details of the payments made by him to the officials of Tihar Jail, specifying the names of the persons who made by the payments on his behalf and to whom such payments were made.

A bench of Justices Uday Umesh Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat and Sudhanshu Dhulia posed these questions after Senior Advocate R Basant, appearing for Sukesh, submitted that an amount of approximately Rs. 12.5 crores was extorted from him by the prison officials while he was in jail. On the other hand, the Enforcement Directorate stated in an affidavit that Sukesh was paying Rs 1.5 crores every month to get adequate facilities to use mobile phones without hindrance and to communicate with his crime syndicate. 

In order to reach a conclusion, the bench opined that revealing the names of those persons who made payments on the petitioner's behalf need to come out.

"The petitioner while sitting in jail, if we go by the counter affidavit made in response ( by the Director General [Prisons]), was able to garner support from outsiders to the extent that an amount of Rs 12.5 crores would be paid to the public servants or other interested persons. In order to come to the conclusion whether the petitioner was subjected to extortion or as asserted by the respondents herein, that the petitioner was running a crime syndicate and was bribing his way through, it would be necessary to understand the identity of the persons who made the payments on behalf of the petitioner. We, therefore, call upon the petitioner to submit the list of persons giving all details with regard to the payments made by any and everyone of them and to whom the payments were made. Let all the details be filed before the next date of hearing", the bench stated in the order.

Saying that it will "go to the root of the matter", the bench posted the case to July 26.

"Give the names...we are not going to shirk away", Justice Lalit told Basant.

The court was hearing a writ petition filed by Sukesh Chandrashekhar and his wife Leena Paulose seeking their transfer from Tihar Jail to a prison outside Delhi.  

Sukesh had filed the writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India alleging that officials in Tihar are torturing him for not meeting their demands of money. The ED has opposed the allegations and said that Sukesh was operating his extortion racket from the jail with the connivance of certain officials, against whom action has now been taken.

During the hearing, when the bench questioned Basant, he expressed his inability to respond to the query immediately.

"Who are the persons who made payments on your part? We are not asking about the recipients now……..Otherwise, there's no credibility to your submissions", the bench orally observed.

"I cannot reveal the names across the bar", was Basant's response.

As the hearing took shape, the bench also made queries pertaining to the petitioner's occupation.

"What is it that you do? You say that Rs 12.5 crores have been extorted from you. So, what is your reported earning?.....Because their (respondents') version of the matter is that you were sort of bribing your way through. There were officials' names' who were virtually on your payroll. With the help of these persons you were running your extortion racket…..And it was that activity which was sort of punctured….."

Subsequently, Basant admitted that all payments made to officials were 'in cash'.

According to Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, Sukesh's petition seeking a transfer from Tihar Jail to a prison outside Delhi is for an ulterior motive.

"He is running a racket from the Tihar Jail and now that we have become strict, he can't do anything from the Jail. So, now he wants to run a racket from Chennai or Bengaluru Jail. ….He conned persons from jails and has extracted 214 crores using mobiles. So many jail officials were suspended. He can't do anything now. That's why he wants to run away, which should not be permitted, according to me."

Terming the details of the investigation as "shocking", ASG Raju offered to place all such details before the bench in a sealed cover.

At the request of the petitioner, the bench adjourned the matter to July 26 while recording the ASG's statement that the jail authorities would ensure Chandrashekhar's physical safety.

During the hearing, Basant referred to an order passed by a vacation bench of the Supreme Court on June 17 which observed that it would be appropriate to shift Sukesh and his wife from Delhi on account of threat perception. 

However, Justice Lalit categorically said that no reliance can be placed on the said order as it was a tentative observation which is not binding on the present bench.

Earlier, the Director General (Prisons), Delhi had filed an affidavit stating that Sukesh's conduct in jail was unsatisfactory and that he was found deliberately violating the prison rules. The DG also denied his allegations that he was assaulted within the jail and that the medical examination conducted by the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital on May 17 did not report any external injuries on him.

The DG had also asserted that he is in safe and secure custody in the Delhi jail with a round-the-clock CCTV surveillance. His wife is also kept in the same prison in the women's section and there is no life threat to them, the affidavit stated.

Case Title: Sukash Chandra Shekhar @ Sukesh & Anr. Versus Union Of India & Anr.| WP (Crl) 129 of 2022