The High Court of Delhi, while noting that the brutal murder of gangster Tillu Tajpuriya inside the Tihar jail has shaken its judicial conscience, directed the authorities to look for a better solution, so as to prevent such incidents from happening in future.
The Single-Judge Bench of Justice Jasmeet Singh observed on Thursday that the authorities should not wait for such incidents to evoke a strong response.
Taking in view the recoveries made from the accused in the high-security prison, the High Court noted that it showed potential for similar incidents in future.
The Single-Judge Bench made the observation, while hearing a petition filed by Tajpuriya’s father and brother seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter.
A status report was presented before the Bench on Thursday, as per its previous order, which said that all the persons found involved in the matter have been suspended.
Additional Standing Counsel (ASC) Rahul Tyagi apprised the court that the authorities were in the process of creating a Quick Response Team (CRT) to deal with such instances, but there should not be any knee-jerk reaction to the same, as ‘hard’ cases make ‘bad law’.
All the accused, even those from outside the jail who were found involved in the crime, would be arrested, added the ASC.
The High Court responded by saying that the authorities could not wait for such instances to happen and then say that hard cases made bad law
Justice Singh asked Tyagi why the prison guards took so long to act and why they did not have walkie-talkies for better communication.
Noting that everything was captured on CCTV cameras, which must have also been watched by someone in the surveillance room, the High Court asked whether this should be the system that every time an incident happened, a person would run from the surveillance room to inform the jail authorities?
Justice Singh further mentioned a trial court order, which had directed the jail officials to take care of Tajpuriya. She said despite the order, the accused was murdered inside the prison, calling it unacceptable.
During the previous hearing, the Single-Judge Bench had issued notice on the petition.