Tihar Jail to order pysch evaluation on ex-Delhi minister Jain
Satyendar Jain money-laundering case: Jain was arrested on May 30 last year by ED in connection with a money laundering case.
The Tihar administration on Monday said that it will order a psychological evaluation for jailed former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain after the Aam Aadmi Party legislator, who has been lodged in Tihar since June last year, asked the prison authorities to shift some other inmates to his cell, citing loneliness.
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The Director General (Prisons) Sanjay Baniwal said since the former minister had cited a recommendation by a psychiatrist in support of his application sent on May 11, the jail authorities will get an independent verification done to asses the request.
The development comes in the wake of a row over shifting of two inmates to Jain’s cell without the consent of senior officials. Baniwal’s office has also issued a show-cause notice to the superintendent of jail number 7, where Jain is lodged, for shifting the inmates.
“As the former minister has cited a psychiatrist’s suggestion, I will get it cross-checked from another doctor soon. If the second psychiatrist corroborates the opinion given by Jain’s doctor, we will provide him with the company of other inmates, who are of Jain’s age group, for more social interactions. But for that we will not consider any name recommended by him,” Baniwal said.
He said the superintendent of jail number 7 has been asked to explain the grounds on which he shifted two inmates to Jain’s cell. “The superintendent has also been asked to provide the antecedents of the shifted inmates. We can’t take any chance with the safety and security of any inmate with such transfers as Tihar, on many occasions, had seen incidents of violence,” Baniwal added.
The inmates have been moved back to their original ward, he said.
Last year, a prison official was suspended for allegedly facilitating special treatment to Jain. The action was taken after the Enforcement Directorate submitted CCTV footage to a Delhi court, alleging that Jain was enjoying a preferential treatment in jail. In the video, Jain was purportedly seen getting a massage from a man in his cell, and chatting with other inmates, none of which is allowed inside the prison.
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Jain was arrested on May 30 last year by ED in connection with a money laundering case.