HC notice to TN govt on warders 'assault' on prisoners

The Madras High Court today ordered notice to Tamil Nadu government on two habeas corpus petitions seeking directions to initiate action against warders of Puzhal Central prison here for allegedly assaulting prisoners on September 25.
Zainab Nasrin and Rabia, in their two separate petitions, submitted that their husbands Abdullah and Syed Abuthahir had been arrested and remanded to judicial custody at the prison.
On September 26, they came to know about a clash between warders and prisoners, leading to injuries on both sides. Their husbands were forcibly transferred to central prison at Tiruchirapalli the same day, they said.
Two days later, Abuthahir's brother-in-law, a lawyer at the Madras High Court bench in Madurai, had met them and were told that they were assaulted with lathis by 10 warders on September 26.

Despite injuries, they were not given medical treatment and instead put in solitary confinment, the petitioner said.
They sought a direction from the court to the authorities to provide medical treatment to their husbands and produce them before the court.

They also prayed that the court initiate action against the prison officials responsible for the alleged assault. The state government could be directed to provide suitable compensation to their husbands, they submitted.
Justices S Tamilvannan and C T Selvam directed the Home Secretary, the Additional Director General of Police and the Inspector General of Prison, Egmore, to file their replies by Monday.

Four prison officials -- three wardens and a jailor -- were attacked by a group of prisoners, including some "fundamentalists" on September 25 during a supervisory drill by one of the officials.
On September 26, six prisoners involved in the attack were transferred to different jails in Tamil Nadu.