By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net,
The judicial report concerning the merciless beating of the Arthur Road jail inmates has come as a huge blow to the jail administration. The report has been submitted before the Bombay High Court by the Principal Judge of Session Court Justice T V Nalvade.
It has exposed many things which the administration claimed in order to justify its beating of the jail inmates who are also accused in the Mumbai train blasts, Malegaon blasts and in the recovery of illegal arms from Aurangabad.
The report points out that the beatings of the prisoners in the most inhuman way was illegal and was not done with the intention of maintaining law and order in the jail as claimed by the Arthur road jail.
Almost six months back the said jail inmates were beaten by the jail authorities while they were being the transferred to the other jails of the state.
The Jail, officially known as Bombay Central Prison is Mumbai’s largest and oldest prison located near Sat Rasta (Seven Roads), between Mahalaxmi and Chinchpokli railway stations in the southern part the city.
On 28th June 2008 at about 8:30 hours an under trial Prisoner Mohd Sohail Shaikh along with around 39 other Prisoners were assaulted brutally in Arthur Road Jail for almost two hours with batons, lathis, belts and stones. The assaulters who included Jail staffs (around 75 in number) and the gangsters and convicts lodged therein, kicked them mercilessly and punched them on their heads, beat the accused so much that they bled profusely, some got injured on head, some suffered fractures on their hands and legs and some were made to roll on the ground and thus some fell unconscious. They soaked in blood. Jail staff stopped beating them only when assumed they were dead.
Their fault was that they dared to question the jail authorities whether it has taken permission from the court concerning their transfer.
In this brutal incident almost 39 inmates were seriously injured.
Among those who suffered some are as follow:
Mohd Sohail Shaikh suffered fractures in both his legs and in his hand, yet no medical aid was provided to him and he continued to suffer and writhe in pain.
The under trial prisoner Dr Tanveer Ahmed Ansari suffered fracture in his hand and ankle due to excessive and continuous beating by batons, fists, blows and lathis.
The under trial prisoner Mohd Zuber Sayyed Anwar suffered an injury on his head measuring 1 and a half inches long, three weal marks about three inches long on the back, one in the neck, one each on the right and left shoulders blade.
The under trial Prisoner Ehtesham Qutubuddin Sayyed suffered injuries and a fracture on his hand and a fracture on foot other injuries.
The under trial prisoner Kamal Ahmed Ansari’s thumb and fingers were fractured.
The under trial prisoner Akhil fell down unconscious because of the prolonged assault on him.
Sayyed Mohammed Hanif Abdul Rahim had fractures on both his legs.
Even when they sustained serious injuries the said inmates were transferred to the jails of Nagpur, Kolhapur and Aurangabad.
When their case was taken up in the Bombay high court by Jamiatul Ulama Hind, then the court asked justice Nalvade to investigate the matter and submit a detailed report.
The Principal Judge Nalvade visited the jail himself and prepared the report after detailed investigation of the incident rejected the sequence of the event on June 28, made up by the jail authorities in their statements submitted before the court.
The report rejects the claims of the jail authorities that the said jail inmates were working on the manuals of Al Qaeda precisely because they are yet accused and not proven guilty in their respective cases.
It further points out that from the medical report of the seriously injured inmates it is evident that they were not given proper and sufficient medical treatment.
According to the section 24, 37 and 38 of the Prison Act 1894 before any kind of transfer of the jail inmates to the jails of Nagpur and Kolhapur, the doctors of these jails should have first of all prepared a medical record of the said jail inmates; they should not have recommended the transfer of the injured jail inmates to the jails of Nagpur, Kolhapur and Aurangabad, the report points out.
The report takes a serious note of the fact that it was sufficient to infer from the injury sustained by the inmates that they were not provided with even the basic medical treatment. There were only 2-3 inmates who were given medical treatment.
The report seriously implicates the doctors of the said jails, pointing that the doctors illegally helped the jail authorities in their efforts to concoct lies and misguide the court.
The report also expresses its surprise at the fact that the jail authorities didn’t keep any kind of record for the kinds of violation allegedly committed by the jail inmates.
For instance in the affidavit submitted before the court the jailer Swati Sathe alleged that the jail inmates refused to comply with the jail authorities. When the authorities tried to take some action the said inmates violently attacked them.
They snatched the sticks from the policemen and beat them. They also used bricks and stones in order to attack the jail administration
But the in the report justice Nalvade who had visited the Arthur jail, points out that it was practically impossible for them to go and bring stones and bricks because these were not available at the site.
In an attempt to communalize the issue she had further alleged that at the time of transfer they started sloganeering “Paksitan Zindabad”.
TwoCircles.net talked to Shahid Lateef, the Editor of Inquilab, Mumbai based Urdu daily. He pointed out that the observation of the court itself is very critical of the government and the jail administration.
Shahab Ansari the Mumbai based journalist who has been covering the case talked to TwoCircles.net.
He pointed out that although the government hasn’t issued any comment on this as the matter is still in the court but the fact of the matter is that the government has been defending the jail administration in this case.
Now when the judiciary has criticized the role of the jail administration it is a setback to the government, he added.
What happened on June 28, 2008 was really an example of misuse of the official power and a violation of human rights.
The oppression on the jail inmates was manifested in their merciless beating by the jail administration.
The report by justice Nalvade has come as a big sigh for the victims, their relatives and the general public.
He also pointed out that the precedent establishes that the judiciary is still the last hope for the common people if the administration denies them justice.
(With inputs from Abdul Hameed of TwoCircles.net in Mumbai)