NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Central government and Tihar Jail authorities to respond to a plea alleging inhuman treatment to Kashmiri separatist leader Aasiya Andrabi and her associates inside the prison.
The plea said Andrabi, who heads the proscribed Dukhtaran-e-Millat, and her aides are kept in solitary confinement.
Justice Najmi Waziri posted the matter for January 14, 2019.
The court was hearing a plea by Andrabi and her associates seeking its direction to immediately shift them to ordinary cells and to provide them with proper food and medical relief.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had on November 14 filed a chargesheet against Andrabi and her associates Sofi Fehmeeda and Naheeda Nasreen accusing them of waging war against the state and delivering hate speeches in Jammu and Kashmir.
Lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail, they are accused of actively running the Dukhtaran-e-Millat, banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
The NIA on April 27 registered a case against Andrabi, Sofi Fehmeeda and Naheeda Nasreen under various sections of Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and arrested them on July 6.
In the plea filed in the Delhi HC, Andrabi and her associates have alleged that they are not getting the basic facilities in the jail.
"There are no windows in the cell... the food is slipped to them inside the cell in polythene bags," Andrabi told the court.
"Andrabi and her associates are kept in solitary confinement under the garb of high-risk prisoners which is extremely unfair and unjust," the plea filed by advocates Satish Tamta and Dhruv Tamta said.
The counsel told the court that 56-year old Andrabi was suffering from various medical ailments.
"There are rats, lizards and other insects crawling inside the cell. Toilets do not have full doors and have not been cleaned for months," said the plea.