A writ plea was made in Madras High Court for a direction to the Puducherry government and prison authorities to provide medical treatment to about 90 undertrial prisoners in the Central Prison in Puducherry, who were brutally attacked by jail warders and police personnel on March 27 last.
The first bench comprising Acting Chief Justice R K Agrawal and Justice N Paul Vasanthakumar, before which the public interest writ petition from advocate P Pugalenthi, also director of Prisoners’ Rights Forum, came up on April 3, directed Pondy PP T Murugesan to obtain instructions and posted the matter for April 8.
According to petitioner, the convict prisoners used to prepare food for the undertrial prisoners. There was a conflict between the convict prisoners and prison administration. They refused to cook food and undertrial prisoners had to forego their food for two days.
They took up the matter with the Prison Superintendent, but he did not take any action. To register their protest, the undertrial prisoners staged an agitation and wrote to the higher authorities. The petitioner alleged that at the instigation of the Prison Superintendent, the jail warders and police personnel brought from outside, attacked the undertrial prisoners and about 90 of them were injured.