Suicide By Prison Inmate, No Timely Action By Jail Authorities: Delhi High Court Appoints Sr Adv Nikhil Naiyar As Amicus Curiae

The Delhi High Court on Monday appointed an amicus curiae over an incident of suicide committed by a jail inmate last year, who struggled for about 19 minutes inside prison cell, however no timely action was taken by the prison authorities.

Justice Subramonium Prasad was dealing with a petition which was numbered on the statement given by the deceased inmate's father, Labh Singh, who had written a letter alleging that his son, Sohan Singh, was being tortured in the Jail. Unfortunately, Sohan Singh committed suicide on December 11, 2021.

The Court accordingly appointed Senior Advocate Nikhil Naiyar as amicus curiae in the matter to assist the Bench in the case.

The Court had issued notice on the plea in January this year and a status report was sought from the concerned Jail authorities.

Accordingly, a status report was filed which mentioned that an enquiry was conducted regarding the allegations of torture on the deceased inmate and that the said allegations were devoid of any merits.

During the course of hearing today, Advocate Piyush Singhal appearing for the State also apprised the Court that the allegations of deceased's father regarding beating and torturing were devoid of merits and that the deceased had committed suicide by hanging himself.

"The point from where he was hanging, his legs were touching the ground also. So he struggled and bent his knees to commit suicide. As far as the torture and allegations on the authorities, for that it is devoid of any merits. But yes, there is some laxity, there was no watch over the CCTV cameras when this thing was happening and he actually struggled for 19 minutes inside prison cell. But the allegations regarding torturing and beaten up do not suffice," he added.

He also added that as per the status report, the inquest is being conducted in the cause of death of deceased inmate by the concerned Metropolitan Magistrate of Tiz Hazari Courts under relevant provisions of CrPC as well as Delhi Prison Rules, however, the said inquest report was still awaited.

At the outset, the Court noted thus:

"The CCTV footage which was presented before the Court shows that the son of the petitioner struggled for about 19 minutes before losing his life and no action was taken by the prison authorities."

"In view of the above, the Court is inclined to appoint Senior Advocate Nikhil Naiyar as amicus curiae to assist the Court in this case."

The Court also directed the Delhi High Court Legal Services Authority to provide the amicus curiae an Advocate on Record to assist him in the matter, thereby adding that in case the amicus wants to take assistance of any other counsel, he will be at liberty to do so.

The matter was accordingly listed for further hearing on March 22.

Case Title: LABH SINGH v. STATE OF NCT OF DELHI AND ORS.