Prisoners claim not paid for work done for outside agency: HC seeks prison stand

The Delhi High Court has sought to know the stand of the Mandoli prison authorities on a letter sent by some inmates lodged there alleging they were not paid wages for work they did for an electronics firm that came to the jail to hire workers.

A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao asked the Delhi government's additional standing counsel Gautam Narayan to seek instructions on the issue raised by the inmates and inform the court by the next date of hearing on January 28, 2019.

The court also issued notice to the firm, M/s Lord Krishna, and sought its response to the communication sent by six inmates from Central Jail No.14, Mandoli, Delhi.

The inmates have claimed in their letter to the high court that they were hired by the firm for cutting LED diffusers and housing for wages of 50 paise per piece.

They have alleged in their letter that together they had cut 30,000 pieces for which they were to receive Rs 15,000, but it was not paid to them.

The court on its own took up the communication as a public interest litigation (PIL).

Apart from seeking payment of the wages due to them for the work carried out, the inmates have also urged the court to order lodging of a cheating case against the electronics firm.