On Tuesday, the shifting of alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar from Tihar Jail was opposed by the Enforcement Directorate and said that Sukesh should be prosecuted for perjury for making false allegations of torture and assault in jail. Appearing for ED, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta submitted before the vacation bench comprising of Justices CT Ravikumar and the Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia that even in jail, Sukesh continued his illegal activities with the prison officials. The Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta submitted that He impersonated the Law Secretary, Home Secretary and even made calls to judges, further adding that all details are mentioned in the latest affidavit filed by the ED. The bench observed that an order has already been passed by the vacation bench of the last week, the order stated that it is appropriate that both Sukesh and Leena Paulouse, his wife should be shifted to allay the apprehensions of danger to life from Tihar jail It was stated by Justice Ravikumar that Our difficulty is that on June 17, an order has already been passed by the previous bench and so long as it’s there, there’s a specific finding, how can the bench give a different view? Adding it, the SG submitted that the order of June 17 was passed when ED was not a party in the case and now the agency has filed an application seeking impleadment. Further, the SG submitted that the matter could be placed before a bench consisting of any of the judges who were members in the previous bench i.e., the bench which passed the June 17 order. The Counsel appearing for the Sukesh and his wife Leena, Senior Advocate R Basant submitted that the jail officials were demanding bribes from them for not torturing them. It was submitted by Basant that the jail officials were in fact extorting money from us for not commiting any torture. It was added by the senior counsel that the June 17 order was passed after hearing the Union Government. the SG said that Sukesh was bringing “models” in jail with the help of officials, Refuting the allegations of torture. The SG submitted that there are some of the models who visted Sukesh surreptitiously in jail with help from the authorities and he was paying money to our officials and we’ve arrested them. The SG submitted, while responding to the query of the bench that the action has been taken against the erring officials and that they have been either arrested or terminated from service. The bench observed that the order dated June 17 of the previous bench recorded that it was passed without considering the rival contentions on merits. Sukesh Chandrashekhar and Leena Paulose have approached the Supreme Court by way of a writ petition seeking transfer to any other jail voicing apprehensions of life threat, who are currently lodged in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail in cases related to cheating and extortion. An affidavit is been filled by the Director General (Prisons), Delhi. The affidavit stated the conduct of Sukesh Chandrashekar in prison was unsatisfactory and Sukesh was violating the prison rules. The allegations were also denied by the Directorate General that Sukesh has assaulted within the prison and that the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital on 17th May conducted the medical examination and did not report any external injuries on Sukesh. It was asserted by the Director General that he is in secure custody and safe in the Delhi jail and with a round the clock CCTV surveillance. Further, the affidavit stated that his wife is also kept in the same prison and there is no life threat to them.
