Supreme Court suggests transfer of conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar from Tihar on his 'life threat' plea

Supreme Court. File Pic

The Supreme Court on Friday suggested the transfer of jailed conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar from Delhi's Tihar to some other jail and directed the Centre to take a decision on the appropriate jail to which he can be transferred while dealing with his plea alleging 'life threat' inside the capital's high-security prison.

"In the facts and circumstances, without entering into the rival contentions, it would be appropriate to transfer the petitioners to some other jail so to allay the apprehension of all concerned," said the vacation bench of Justices A.S. Bopanna and Justice Vikram Nath. Listing the matter for further heaing on Monday, the bench directed the respondents to come up with a decision on the matter. Earlier, the Delhi High Court had sought the response of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on a plea moved by Chandrashekhar alleging that the Tihar prison authorities have extorted around Rs 12.5 crore from him in the last two years.

Chandrashekhar moved the apex court seeking his transfer from Tihar to another prison, saying that since he has levelled allegations against jail officials, he faces a threat to his life. "I asked for the shifting of the prison anywhere out of Delhi, requesting my client is willing to go anywhere in the country due to the threat to his life from the Tihar authorities and the court responded positively," his lawyer Ashok K. Singh told IANS.

"I am not seeking to be transferred to a prison of my choice. I am entitled to the security of my life. Put me under any condition, produce me virtually but I have a tremendous threat to my life," counsel added. Chandrashekhar, who is charged in many multi-crore fraud cases, is also accused of extorting Rs 200 crore from the family of former Fortis Healthcare and Ranbaxy Lab promoters Shivinder and Malvinder Singh from the premises of the prison.

The conman was reportedly giving Rs 75 lakh per fortnight as a bribe for a mobile phone. Many Tihar officials were booked after the reports and many are under the scanner after the incident. On June 9, Additional Sessions Judge Geetanjli Goel had sought a report from the Tihar Jail Superintendent on a similar plea stating that he has apprehension of a 'threat to his life' and not to transfer his cell at Tihar. In his plea, Chandrashekhar alleged that the DG, Prisons, is putting pressure on him to sign documents and he is also trying to shift him to Jail No 3 from Jail No 1.

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