Delhi District Court
7.2019 vs K. Ranga Has on 5 November, 2022
IN THE COURT OF CHIEF METROPOLITAN MAGISTRATE,
DISTRICT EAST, KARKARDOOMA COURTS, DELHI
Presided by: Mr. Jitendra Pratap Singh, DJS
FINAL INQUEST REPORT U/SEC.176 CR.P.C. AS TO THE DEATH OF
UTP GURFAN @ IRFAN
CR Cases 3535/2021
DD NO 6A /2019 dated 17.09.2019
U/Sec.176 Cr.P.C.
(Hari Nagar)
IN THE MATTER OF INQUEST UNDER SECTION 176 (1-A) CR.P.C.
OF GURFAN @ IRFAN
DATE OF DEMISE OF GURFAN @ IRFAN : 19.09.2019.
DATE OF FINAL ORDER OF INQUEST : 05.11.2022.
1) The present inquest proceedings have been initiated in furtherance of DD
no. 37 A dated 17.09.2019, PS - Hari Nagar. This entry recorded the
information regarding hanging of a prisoner in the Central Jail-1 (CJ-1),
Tihar whose identity subsequently was confirmed as Gufran son of Mr
Babu Khan, aged 26 years. The patient prisoner was admitted to the Deen
Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, hereinafter referred to as the DDU Hospital.
Despite the treatment the prisoner could not be saved and he was
pronounced dead at 11:30 PM on 19.09.2019 at the said hospital.
Thereafter the instant inquest proceedings were initiated by the then Ld.
MM, Shri Atul Krishna Agarwal. He examined several persons during
such proceedings including the family members of the deceased prisoner.
Thereafter, the Ld. Principal District and Sessions Judge, East District,
Delhi has marked the said proceedings to the undersigned for trial as per
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law vide order dated 21.07.2022. It is in furtherance of the same that the
instant report is being submitted.
Facts stated in briefly:
2) On receipt of the information the then Ld. MM has visited the DDU Hospital and inspected the body of the deceased prisoner in presence of SI Jhabu Ram, and in presence of Sirajuddin, Naseem Ali, Meher Khan and Tahir Khan. Sirajuddin and Naseem Ali are the brothers in law of the deceased while Meher Khan and Tahir Khan are his brothers. The Ld. MM observed the body to be stiff and the blood secreted from the nose and some yellow fluid from the mouth. Red linear abrasions on the right hand, on the left back shoulder blade were also observed. On enquiry in this regard Dr BN Mishra, HOD, Forensic Medicine, who was present at that time informed the Ld. MM that in such cases the secretion of blood and the fluid was normal. He further informed that the abrasions might have been due to the shifting of the body in the post-mortem department. The statements of Meher Khan and Naseem Ali were recorded by the Ld. MM. Thereafter the directions of the post-mortem were issued by the Ld. MM. The post-mortem was then conducted and the proceedings were photographed and video recorded. After the post-mortem, the body was handed over to the relatives of the deceased. The viscera was preserved and was sent for forensic examination.
3) During the course of the proceedings the statements of the following persons were recorded:
(a) Dr Devender Yadav, Acting Medical Officer in Charge, Central Jail, Tihar has appeared on behalf of Dr Siddharth Harsh, the Medical Officer in Charge, Central Jail, Tihar, Delhi. He produced the medical report Ex.
C - one of the deceased prisoner. He deposed that as per the records the deceased was produced before the Jail Doctor on 20.06.2019, 22.06.2019, DD NO 6A /2019 Inquest Proceedings Of Gurfan @ Irfan Page no.2/10 01.07.2019, 13.08, 2019 and 26.0 8.2019 with complaints of swelling over year, increased frequency of urination, itching over buttock, scabies and dry cough with fever with generalised body ache. That he was given appropriate medical attention for the said complaints. He deposed that on 17.09.2019 at about 11:15 AM the prisoner was brought to the jail dispensary in an unconscious state with the alleged history of hanging in the barrack. He was unresponsive and making sounds while breathing. Ligature marks over neck and congestion over face was present. The pulse was high, bilateral pupil size was reduced. He was unresponsive to light and SPO2 was also reduced. Except this no other external injury mark was found on the body at that time. The medical condition suggested that it was due to recent hanging by the neck. He was immediately provided oxygen inhalation and referred to the DDU Hospital for further treatment on the same day.
(b) CW2 Dr Naseem Ahmed, Junior Resident, Department of Medicine, DDU Hospital who prepared the death summary report Ex. CW2/A. As per the report the reason of death was cardiac arrest and there were bruise marks on the neck of the deacesed which might have been caused due to hanging by the neck.
(c) CW3 Dr Nishtha Goyal, Junior Resident, DDU Hospital was a member of the Medical Board headed by Dr VK Ranga, Associate Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, DDU Hospital. This board had conducted the post-mortem of the prisoner. She proved the report Ex. CW3/A. She deposed that as per the report the cause of the death was bronchopneumonia developed due to the complication of attempted hanging. That there was no external injury found on the body, except the ligature mark on the neck.
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(d) CW4 Mr Samarendra Chaudhary is the Deputy Superintendent, CJ-1. He deposed that on 17.09.20191 an inmate namely Gufran @ Toota @ Irfan tried to commit suicide by hanging himself. He was rescued by the duty staff and then sent to the jail dispensary from where he was referred to the DDU Hospital. On 20.09.2019 he received information vide DD no. 5B through the 3rd Battalion, Delhi Police that the said accused has expired. He communicated the message Ex. CW4/A to the concerned authority. He identified the relevant documents Mark CW4/X (Colly.).
(e) CW5 HC Dilip Singh deposed that on 17.09.2019 he was posted at Mobile Crime Team, West district and on instructions of SI Kalyan Singh, In charge, Crime Team, he went to the Jail no. 1, Tihar and took the photographs Ex. PW5/A (Colly.).
(f) CW6 Mr Tahir Khan is the brother of the deceased prisoner. He deposed that he had visited the mortuary of the DDU Hospital where he had identified the body of his brother Gufran @ Irfan vide memo Ex. CW6/A. He stated that he did not know anything about this case and he was told that his brother had committed suicide by hanging.
(g) CW7 retired SI Kalyan Singh deposed that on 17.09.2021 he was In Charge of West District Crime Team. On that day he visited the Cell no. 2, Ward no. 8, C - Block, Jail no. 1, Central Jail Tihar with ASI Ranjit from the Fingerprint Bureau, HC Dilip, the photographer and with SI Jhabu Ram. They examined the place of the occurrence and prepared the detailed report Ex. CW7/A. He deposed that he did not find anything suspicious or any suicide note of the prisoner.
(h) CW8 Mr Mehar Khan is the elder brother of the deceased and he stated that he suspected the Police officials as the deceased on the day of his remand before the court no. 65, Karkardooma Court, after expiry of his parole period has told him that he had life threat from inside the jail DD NO 6A /2019 Inquest Proceedings Of Gurfan @ Irfan Page no.4/10 from some DS. That the deceased did not tell the complete name or the designation of the said Jail official. In response to a specific query this witness stated that he did not inform the court concerned in whose custody the deceased was at the time of the incident nor had made any application in this regard before that court.
(i) CW9 Mrs. Shabnam is the wife of the deceased she also stated that on her meetings with the deceased, he used to tell her that he had life threat from jail officials. That the deceased was beaten by the jail officials and the injury marks were present at the time of his post-mortem. That her husband had also told to make an application in case something happens to him but he did not tell the name of the officials who had threatened him. She was also questioned by the Ld MM to which she replied that she neither had informed the court concerned nor had made any application regarding the apprehensions of her husband before the court in whose custody the deceased was.
(j) CW 10 Dr Sachin Goyal deposed that on 17.09.2019 he was serving as S.R., ENT, DDU Hospital and on that day he examined the patient Gufran brought to the hospital with a history of hanging in jail. The patient was unconscious and on mechanical ventilation support. He found a ligature mark on both sides of the neck. He proved his detailed report Ex. CW 10/A. In response to the query of the undersigned, he stated that the bruises which he had seen were not themselves sufficient to give an opinion about the cause of such bruises.
(k) CW 11 Mr Sanjay Kumar is the photographer who had conducted the photography and video recording of the post-mortem examination. He identified the 25 photographs Ex. CW 11/A (Colly.) and the DVD of the video as Ex. CW 11/B. DD NO 6A /2019 Inquest Proceedings Of Gurfan @ Irfan Page no.5/10
(l) CW 12 Dr VK Ranga is another member of the Board which had conducted the post-mortem. He identified his signatures on the post- mortem report Ex. CW 12/A. He also identified the signatures of the other two members namely Dr Rahul Sharma and Dr Nishtha Goel. He deposed that the examination of the body and the subsequent post- mortem did not indicate any sign of homicide. That the cause of the death was found to be bronchopneumonia developed due to the complication of attempted hanging.
(m) Dr Manoj Prasad has deposed that on 17.09.2019 he was working in the DDU Hospital and at that time Dr Kaleem was also working there. He had seen Dr Kaleem writing and signing documents during their professional interactions. He stated that Dr Kaleem had since left the said hospital and his current whereabouts were not known. He identified the handwriting and signatures of Dr Kaleem on the MLC Ex. CW 10/A.
(n) CW 13 Inspector Jhabu Ram has deposed that on 17.09.2019 he was posted at PS - Hari Nagar and on that day on receipt of DD no. 37A dated 17.09.2019 he reached the DDU Hospital where he was informed that one prisoner namely Gufran @ Imran of Tihar Jail, CJ -1 was admitted with history of hanging. He was declared unfit for statement by the doctors on duty. Thereafter he reached the Cell no.2, Ward no. 8 of CJ-1 with the Crime Team and got the spot photographed. He identified the photographs Ex. PW5/1 (Colly.). He seized the material Ex. CW 13/B purportedly used by the prisoner for hanging. The matter was kept pending for the prisoner to revive and to give his statement. He further deposed that on 20.09.2019 he was informed about the demise of the prisoner vide DD no. 6A dated 20.09.2019 Ex. CW 13/A. He informed the Ld. Duty MM who reached the hospital on the same day and conducted the proceedings. That on the directions of the Ld. MM a DD NO 6A /2019 Inquest Proceedings Of Gurfan @ Irfan Page no.6/10 request to conduct the post-mortem Ex. CW 13/C was made to the HOD, Department of Forensic Medicine, DDU Hospital. Meanwhile he also collected the treatment papers from the hospital. Subsequently the post- mortem was conducted under the supervision of the Ld. MM and the same was photographed and video recorded. Subsequently the body was handed over to the relatives vide memo Ex. CW 13/D. The sample of viscera was collected vide memo Ex. CW 13/E. The viscera was submitted to the FSL vide the document Mark CW 13/F. He also collected the documents i.e. Barrack Bandi from the jail authorities Mark CW 13/G. He stated that since no foul play was suspected during the enquiry and since the result of the viscera was not received the matter was kept pending.
(o) Mr Naseem Ali, the brother-in-law of the deceased prisoner has stated to the Ld. MM on 20.09. 2019 that the deceased was released on parole due to birth of his daughter about 5-6 months ago where after he was again sent to Tihar Jail. After about 2-3 months the officials of PS Dayal Pur took his custody for two days during which he was badly beaten up. That he met the deceased in the court after he was produced by the police officials of Dayal Pur and saw the injuries on his lower back. He further stated that about one month ago when he accompanied the wife of the deceased to Tihar Jail, the deceased informed them that he feared for his life from the officials of Tihar Jail and asked his wife to get him transferred to Mandoli jail. He further stated that two-three days ago when his sister went to get the visitor card prepared, the jail officials told her that Gufran was requesting them to transfer him from normal jail to Qasoori ward.
(p) On 20.09.2019 the other brother of the deceased namely Mehar Khan was also examined and he stated that his brother was released on parole DD NO 6A /2019 Inquest Proceedings Of Gurfan @ Irfan Page no.7/10 for one month about 4-5 months ago. Thereafter, after two days three months the officials of PS Dayalpur tortured him in police station. He was beaten and threatened that if he did not sign on blank papers his family members would be falsely implicated in cases of MCOCA. He went into depression because of this and started making unnecessary quarrel with different persons.
Observations:
4) A perusal of the statements recorded during the inquiry, of the material collected and the opinion of the experts would show that the body of the deceased prisoner had no sign of any external injury on his person as has been observed in the Postmortem Report. CW12 Dr. V. K. Ranga has categorically stated on 24.09.2022 that the examination of the body and the subsequent Postmortem did not indicate any sign of homicide. The cause of death has been opined to be bronchopneunomonia developed due to complication of attempted hanging. The Viscera analysis report dated 30.06.2021 of the FSL is to the effect that no harmful material was detected in the sample. As per the Barrackbandi Register, the deceased was the only occupant of the cell no.2. The police officials namely CW-
13 SI Jhabu Ram, CW-7 SI(Retd.) Kalyan Singh and CW-5 HC Dilip Singh have visited the said cell and the CW-13 has seized the material reportedly used by the prisoner to hang himself from Cell no.2 only. From the record nothing has been found to indicate any struggle, etc. made by the prisoner before hanging. The family members of the deceased have stated that the deceased feared for his life from the Jail officials. They however, could not tell the designation or the name of such Jail officials. It has not been explained as to why no complaint has been made either to senior officers or to the Court by order of which the deceased was in custody. This fact coupled with the expert opinion leads the inquiry DD NO 6A /2019 Inquest Proceedings Of Gurfan @ Irfan Page no.8/10 towards to the conclusion that there is no apparent suspicion of foul play in the events leading to the death of the prisoner. No material has surfaced to show that any person or public servant was responsible for the death. The inquiry shows that adequate medical treatment was provided to the deceased, firstly, in the jail dispensary and thereafter, in the DDU Hospital.
Conclusion of the Inquiry:
5) The inquiry as conducted into the circumstances of the death of the prisoner Gufran @ Irfan @ Tunda has led to the conclusion that the death has been caused due to bronchopneunomonia developed due to the complication of attempted hanging. No material has been found to indicate any foul play or homicide. No person or public servant has been found to be directly responsible for such death. However, I am of the view that the recurrence of such incidents in future can be avoided if the prisoners are monitored through CCTV during their detention in cells in jail.
6) With the aforesaid observations, the instant inquest proceedings stand concluded.
7) Copy of this report be sent to,
(a) The National Human Rights Commission, Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg, New Delhi.
(b) The Home Department, Government of NCT of Delhi.
(c) The Director General (Prisons), NCT of Delhi.
(d) The Jail Superintendent, Central Jail No.04, Tihar, New Delhi.
8) The copy of the report be accompanied with the copies of the statements of the family members of the deceased and other persons recorded during the inquiry.
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9) The copies of the MLC of the deceased, of the postmortem report and of the viscera examination report be also sent with the copy of the inquiry report.
10) File be consigned to record room.
(Jitendra Pratap Singh) CMM (East), KKD, Delhi/05.11.2022 DD NO 6A /2019 Inquest Proceedings Of Gurfan @ Irfan Page no.10/10