Delhi HC directs govt to address poor condition of Lampur detention centre

The Delhi High Court has directed the Principal Secretary of the Social Welfare Department of the Delhi Government to take immediate remedial steps to address the pathetic conditions in the detention centre at Lampur.

A Division Bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup Jairam Bhambh directed the Principal Secretary to take immediate remedial steps to address the pathetic conditions that exist in the centre regarding cleanliness, hygiene and medical facilities and the other infirmities mentioned in the report.

The Court asked the Delhi Government to file a detailed status report before the next date of hearing and said that the report shall include photographs and videography of the centre as it exists currently as well as subsequent to the remedial steps taken by the concerned Department.

Thereafter, the matter was listed on February 18 for further hearing.

The Court direction came on a report filed by a sessions judge of Central District of Tis Hazari Courts Complex after inspecting the detention centre.

On November 9, last year, the Court had directed the Principal District and Sessions Judge (HQ) to depute a Judicial Officer to visit the detention centre at Lampur which functions under the aegis of the Social Welfare Department of the Government of Delhi and carry out an inspection of the conditions prevailing at the said detention cent.

They were also asked to submit a report to this court on their behalf.

The bench order came while hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by a woman, seeking the release of her husband, who is alleged to be a Pakist national, from the Sewa Sadan Deportation Centre Lampur Village Delhi.

Counsel for the petitioner, advocate Ajay Verma, assisted by lawyer Mehak Nakra, pointed towards the pitiable conditions prevailing in the detention centre where the detainees are deprived of basic human rights, including medical facilities.

The advocates had submitted that the petitioner has been detained in the centre and he has been informed by the petitioner that the condition of the detention centre is very pathetic for want of cleanliness and hygiene.

"No medical facilities are being provided at the detention centre; the detainees are not permitted to communicate with the family and their counsel, and no legal aid is provided to them," they said.

The petitioner's husband was arrested on December 13, 2012, and has been facing trial for years. On October 10 2016, a trial court convicted him under charges of the Official Secrets Acts and others and sentenced him to nine years in jail.

The High Court upheld his conviction under the Official Secrets Acts. After completing his sentence, on April 14, 2020, he was released from jail but sent to Sewa Sadan Deportation Centre Lampur Village in Delhi for the purpose of deportation. His wife challenged his deportation in the Delhi High Court and sought his release.

( With inputs from ANI )