A committee has been constituted by the Delhi High Court for conducting surprise inspection on nature of food and hygiene at Tihar Jail.
The Delhi High Court constituted committee conducted a surprise inspections at Tihar Jail and asked for a report of the food provided to the jail inmates, on basis of the hygiene level. It also noted about the upkeep of the cooking area and the canteen.
A plea was put before Justice Prathiba M. Singh by two jail inmates who are lodged in Tihar jail, and have asked for direction to the jail superintendent to ensure that proper food is provided to the inmates and proper canteen facilities are made available to all the prisoners.
The case of the petitioners is that though there is a prescribed diet in the Prison Rules in terms of quantity of food and the nutrients for the prisoners lodged in jails, the same is not being properly followed in the Tihar jail and thereby, the physical health of inmates is being adversely affected.
During the course of the hearing, Advocate Adit S. Pujari, representing the petitioners, pointed out that after 6:00 pm, once the inmates are locked out in their respective cells, no food is available. He submitted that now the canteen does not even store or sell fruits for being purchased by the inmates.
On the other hand, Advocate Mehak Nakra, representing the jail superintendent, informed the court that recently, a surprise visit was conducted by the jail visiting judge, wherein it was found that all the requisite rules are being complied with.
Considering the nature of the allegations, the court constituted a committee comprising Advocates Rajdipa Behura, Mehak Nakra and Adit S. Pujari to conduct surprise inspections at the Tihar Jail to gather information qua the nature of food provided to the inmates at all times, i.e., breakfast, lunch and dinner; the nature of food items being made available in the canteen; and the hygiene level as being maintained in the cooking area, as also in the canteen.
The Court noted that the inspection committee should do at least two surprise inspections and submit a report by the next date of hearing. The Committee members shall coordinate amongst themselves for fixing the dates of inspection. Whenever the above Committee visits the jail for the inspections, complete cooperation shall be provided by the Jail Superintendent, as also other officials at Tihar Jail,
The matter is slated for hearing on July 20, 2023.