A UK four member team visited Delhi’s Tihar Jail to assess prison conditions
The team included two CPS experts and two British High Commission officials
The UK team found Tihar Jail conditions good and close to international standards
With India seeking extradition of fugitives Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Sanjay Bhandari from UK, a team of Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) visited Delhi’s Tihar Jail to assess the prison conditions earlier this year. Sources reveal that the assessment took place in July.
The team included four people – two CPS experts and two British High Commission officials, sources said.
The four team assessed the
high-security ward in Tihar jail and the facilities and security provided to prisoners. They also interacted with some prisoners.
As per officials, the UK assessment team was generally satisfied with the prison conditions, with the members calling the prison system “good” and “close to Indian standards”. The Indian authorities also assured the team that if necessary, a separate place can be created for high-profile extraditees and their special needs would be taken care of. The authorities also assured that the extraditees would not be in any danger.
This comes months after a UK court had allowed high-profile arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari’s appeal against his extradition to India, saying that in Tihar jail, he would be at “real risk” of extortion, accompanied by threat or “actual violence” from other prisoners and prison officials.Â
The UK officials had also sought a written guarantee from India that no prisoner in Tihar would be ill-treated.
According to the government data, a total of 178 extradition requests from India are pending in different countries at present. Out of these, at least 20 are in the UK – which includes names of
high-profile fugitives like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Sanjay Bhandari, apart from many Khalistani leaders.
News Edit KV Raman
