Supreme Court directs Rajasthan government to conduct inquiry into search conducted by jail authorities

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Friday directed the Rajasthan government to conduct a fact-finding inquiry into the incident of rioting and assault that happened at the Jaipur jail during the search operation in 2019.

A bench comprising Justices NV Ramana, Surya Kant and Aniruddha Das passed the order while hearing a plea filed by an accused seeking bail in a case relating to rioting and assault to deter a public servant from discharge of duty.

The court noted that the allegation against the petitioner is that while opposing the search being conducted by the jail authorities in Jaipur, he along with other inmates, assaulted the jail staff on March 30, 2019.

The petitioner while refuting these allegations, claimed that he was given merciless beatings by the jail authorities which is self-evident from the Medical Report dated April 6, 2019.

The counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner had made a complaint to the Judicial Magistrate in respect of the 11 injuries suffered by him while in custody and pursuant thereto an inquiry was ordered.

However, the fate of the inquiry is not known.

The Advocate General told the apex court that the complaint was investigated by the Police and a report has been submitted to the Magistrate.

In its order, the bench said "Taking into consideration the peculiar facts and circumstances of the instant case, and particularly the fact that the petitioner has suffered 11 injuries while in custody, we think it is a fit case to grant him bail," the bench said.

It also said, "Be that as it may, in view of the nature of allegations made by the petitioner against the jail authorities, even though a report is said to have been submitted to the Magistrate by the Police, we direct the State Government to conduct a fact-finding inquiry by a Senior IAS Officer of the State cadre and take appropriate action against the jail/police officers/officials who will be found guilty in such inquiry."