Garhwal Post Bureau
Nainital, 17 Jul: The Uttarakhand High Court has taken strong judicial action in a case of assault on a jailed POCSO undertrial lodged in Sitarganj Jail. Upon taking cognisance of the incident, the Court ordered suspension of, both, the Deputy Jailer and a Constable, and directed that names of all other individuals involved in the assault be presented before it. The case was heard by the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice G Narendar and Justice Alok Mehra.
It may be recalled that the assault case was revealed during an inspection of Sitarganj Jail conducted on 11 July by Yogendra Kumar Sagar, Secretary of the District Legal Services Authority, Udham Singh Nagar. Sagara submitted his report to the High Court on 14 July. During the inspection, Sagar met inmate Subhan, who appeared visibly terrified and traumatised, bearing multiple injury marks on his body. Upon enquiry, Subhan disclosed that he was assaulted on 28 June by the Deputy Jailer, a Constable, and several others. It was further alleged that while he was being questioned, the Constable and others attempted to intimidate him through threatening gestures.
In light of these revelations, the Secretary swiftly recommended immediate action and forwarded his findings to the High Court. In response to the report, the Court directed the jail administration to present Subhan before it and personally observed the injuries sustained by him. Subhan has been imprisoned since 2024 in connection with a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. During the proceedings, Secretary of the District Legal Services Authority, Sagar also joined via video conference and was instructed by the Bench to conduct routine inspections of the jail to ensure proper adherence to prison regulations.
As per the reports, Anil Yadav and Sunil Sharma have been held as complicit in the assault. During the hearing, the Court also expressed serious concern over the violation of jail rules and questioned the underlying reasons for the occurrence of such unlawful incidents within correctional facilities.
