A Saket court has directed the Tihar Jail Superintendent to take immediate steps for Aaftab Poonawala’s Safety and to file an action taken report, after the undertrial in the Shraddha Walkar murder case said fellow inmates had threatened to kill him for ten days; the court permitted his shifting to a separate ward if needed.
New Delhi: Aaftab Amin Poonawala, who is facing trial for the 2022 murder of his live-in partner, has told a Delhi court that other inmates are threatening him, and the court has directed the Tihar Jail authorities to secure him against those threats [State v. Aaftab Amin Poonawala].
Additional Sessions Judge Hargurvarinder Singh Jaggi of the Saket Courts passed the directions after Poonawala sought permission to make submissions about the threats. The trial is at the stage of prosecution evidence.
What the court directed
The Jail Superintendent concerned has been directed to take immediate steps for Poonawala’s safety and security and, if required, to keep him in a separate ward or cell away from the inmates said to be threatening him. The Superintendent must file an action taken report, to be read as a status report, at the earliest. A copy of the order is to go to the Jail Superintendent and to the Investigating Officer or SHO of Mehrauli Police Station for information and compliance.
Custody and the right to a fair trial
The safety of an undertrial prisoner, the court said, is a top priority and one of the hallmark principles of the criminal justice system. It tied the State’s duty of custody to the accused’s right to a fair trial:
“It is the duty of the State to keep UTPs safe and secure, which is within the realm of a right to fair trial of an accused.”
The accused’s account
Poonawala said he is lodged in Jail No. 4A of Tihar Jail, a special cell that is also the punishment ward. He alleged that for the past ten days a few inmates had repeatedly threatened to kill him and to slash his face with improvised weapons, and he expressed concern for his safety inside the prison. These are his claims; the jail administration’s account has been called for.
Where the trial stands
The prosecution alleges that Poonawala killed his live-in partner in 2022, cut her body into pieces and disposed of them in forests in Delhi. Charges of murder and causing disappearance of evidence were framed against him in May 2023; he has pleaded not guilty and claimed trial. The allegations are yet to be proved, he is presumed innocent until the trial concludes, and the safety directions say nothing on the merits of the case.
Why the order matters
High-profile undertrials are frequent targets inside prisons, and a trial cannot be fair if the accused is not safe to stand it. By treating custodial safety as part of the right to a fair trial and asking the jail for a status report, the trial court has put the onus on the prison administration to act and to account for what it has done, whatever the gravity of the charge the accused faces.
Case Title: State v. Aaftab Amin Poonawala (title to be verified)
Court: Additional Sessions Judge Hargurvarinder Singh Jaggi, Saket Courts, New Delhi
Police Station: Mehrauli
Stage: Prosecution evidence
Date of Order: to be verified