The Delhi High Court has directed the Tihar jail authorities to inform it about the procedure for video calls with prisoners. (File)The Delhi High Court has directed the Tihar jail authorities to inform it about the procedure for video calls with prisoners and whether they verify the Aadhaar details of people requesting such calls.
During the hearing on October 31, a single-judge bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma was informed that the woman-prosecutrix had made requests to the jail authorities for setting up video calls with the accused on various dates. The court was hearing the bail plea of an accused who has been in jail in a kidnapping case under Section 363 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The additional public prosecutor for the state of Delhi on instructions from the investigating officer submitted that as per jail authorities, they received a request from the woman with Aadhaar No. ‘X’ to set up a video call with the accused.
The counsel for the accused submitted that the Aadhaar did not belong to the woman but to a man as he had “verified from the e-website”. “The correct Aadhaar Card number of the prosecutrix is found to be ‘Y’,” the order records.
The high court observed that it was a matter of “serious concern” if the woman in a kidnapping case is trying to “set up a video call and is requesting for virtual meeting with the accused on several occasions”. The woman, who was present in the court and identified by the IO, denied these allegations.
Pursuant to the woman’s denial, the high court observed that this may mean someone had used the fake name of the woman to set up a video call with the accused, “to claim in court that she is trying to contact him in jail”. “If it be found to be true, in serious offences, anyone may misuse such a facility to the detriment of prosecution and the country,” the high court noted.
The high court directed the superintendent of the Tihar jail to inform it about the procedure on “how the request for setting up video calls at the jail are dealt with by the jail authorities?”. The high court directed the superintendent to answer if the jail maintains records of such video calls, and if yes, for how long. The court further asked the jail authorities to inform it if they verify Aadhaar cards furnished by people requesting virtual meetings via video calls.
The high court directed the jail to preserve the records of video calls mentioned by the accused or any other call thereafter and give the details to the concerned IO and the court. It listed the matter for further hearing on January 19, 2023.