The Supreme Court on Tuesday disposed of a writ petition filed by conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar and his wife Leena Paulose, seeking extension in visitation time allotted by the jail authorities to meet family, friends and legal representatives.
The Bench of Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice Bela M Trivedi dismissed the petition on the grounds that the accused were not in a position to ‘seek such privileges’ and make such ‘extraordinary’ demands.
The Counsel representing the accused told the Apex Court that as per the prison rules, his clients were provided facilities for seeing and communicating with family members, relatives, friends and legal advisors.
Noting that the facility was granted only for 30 minutes twice a week to the accused, the lawyer said there were 28 cases pending against the accused across the country for which more than 10 lawyers have been engaged.
He sought extension of the time period on the grounds that the visitation time allotted as per the jail rules was not sufficient.
The Counsel further submitted that the same infringed upon the right to legal representation envisaged under Article 22(1) of the Constitution of India.
The Apex Court, while taking exception to the submission that an accused could make such extraordinary demands, directed the Advocate to give this Court a list of the lawyers.
The Bench remarked that it would ask the jail authorities to let the lawyers and legal representatives stay in prison itself with Chandrashekhar, instead of going to meet him everyday.
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The top court of the country had, in 2022, directed to shift Sukesh and his wife Leena Paulose to Mandoli Jail from Tihar Jail, after they complained of harassment and intimidation from Tihar jail officials.
The Court, however, turned down Sukesh’s petition to shift him to a jail outside Delhi-NCR. In October 2022, the Apex Court had dismissed another petition filed by Sukesh, seeking transfer from Mandoli to a jail outside Delhi-NCR.
(Case title: Sukash Chandrashekhar vs UoI and Anr)