HC prison authorities about medical facilities in Delhi jails

The Delhi High Court today asked the prison authorities about the number of doctors and specialists visiting the jails in the national capital as well as the medical infrastructure and facilities available for the inmates.
A bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and S P Garg also asked the director general of prisons about the number of inmates in the jails here who were suffering from communicable, chronic and terminal diseases as well as the emergency medical response facility available for them and others.
Delhi has three jails -- Tihar, Mandoli and Rohini.
The court also sought to know from the prison authorities about the number of inmates who were more than 65 years and directed that these details be filed on record before the next date of hearing on September 6.

The direction came during the hearing of a PIL initiated by the court after a murder accused died of tuberculosis while in custody and later one of his eyes was found missing when his body was kept in the mortuary.
Keeping in view what happened to the murder accused' body, the court has been monitoring the status of morgues in the government hospitals in the city and has from time to time given suggestions and directions for improving the conditions of the mortuaries.
The court had also appointed an amicus curiae to inspect the morgues and file periodic reports regarding their status.