The Madhya Pradesh High Court, through an interim order, has stayed any coercive action against Sehore District, Deputy Jail Superintendent Pannalal Prajapati till further orders. Along with this, the Court has issued notice to the state government and others.
The case was heard before a single bench of Justice Vishal Dagat. During the hearing, Senior Advocate Adarsh Muni Trivedi, along with advocate Ashish Trivedi, Aseem Trivedi, Pankaj Tiwari and Ajay Prajapati, represented the petitioner Deputy Jail Superintendent Pannalal Prajapati.
The petition argued that Jail Superintendent of District Jail Sehore Sanjay Sahlam has prepared action against the petitioner on the basis of unilateral investigation report.
The High Court was informed that a guard of the District Jail Sehore had taken a bribe of Rs 30,000 from his family members in the name of getting a prisoner admitted to a hospital outside the jail. When the prisoner was not removed from the jail and admitted to the hospital even after a month, then the prisoner’s family through Social media made viral the video of guard taking Rs. 30,000 bribe.
The jail superintendent was questioned when the video went viral. On this, he himself became the investigating officer of the case. In the investigation team, a Deputy Jail Superintendent of Bhopal Jail and an Assistant Jail Superintendent were appointed as Assistant Investigating Officers. As part of the investigation process, the statements of some guards and detainees were recorded and then along with the concerned jail guards, the Deputy Jail Superintendent not only submitted the preliminary inquiry report but also lodged an FIR in the police station on the basis of the same. Not only this, the investigation report was sent to the Director General Jail for departmental action.
The petitioner contends that the primary investigation report presented against him is void due to contamination.
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According to Rule-109 of Madhya Pradesh Jail Rules-1968, the Jail Superintendent has the right to issue an order to admit any detainee outside the jail to a hospital on the report of the Medical Officer of the jail. Therefore, the point of making Deputy Jail Superintendent a scapegoat is clear.