Chidambaram spends first night at Tihar jail, given tea, biscuite for breakfast
Senior Congress leader and former Home Minister P Chidambaram spent his first night at the Tihar jail after he was sent to 14-day judicial custody by a CBI court in the INX Media case on Thursday.
Jail no.7, ward no.2 and cell no. 15 of Tihar Jail is where Chidambaram is, reportedly, lodged till September 19.
The Congress leader is being treated like any other under-trial at the Tihar, with no special privileges except those allowed by the court.
Therefore, Chidambaram was given tea for breakfast around 6 am in the morning along with the prison menu of bread and biscuite.
Chidambaram will also have to eat the jail's 'dal-roti' in plastic utensils or he can get food from the jail canteen.
Apart from his clothes, he was not be allowed to carry anything from his home. He will also be required to attend early morning prayers like all other inmates.
As per the jail norms, the inmates are locked up at 9 in the night and in the morning, they have to wake up between 6-7 am.
The court has allowed the former Union Minister to take his medicines along with him. Since Chidambaram enjoys Z-category security, the court also allowed him to be kept in a separate cell with adequate arrangements for his security.
On being asked about any specific preparations, Director General of Prisons, Sandeep Goyal told IANS: "A jail is a jail. We only follow the court's orders. No one lodged in a jail is special."
He said Chidambaram would be treated like a normal prisoner.
Chidambaram is facing trial for financial crimes and is also aged above 70 but Goyal only said "We will do what the jail manual says," as he brushed aside any security concerns.
Jail No. 7 houses 600-700 inmates, the majority of whom are jailed for crimes against women though the block has traditionally been used to house economic offenders.
The process to lodge Chidambaram started with his thumbprint on his entry into the jail after the CBI officials handed over all the legal documents to the jail staff to begin the official paperwork.
The jail staff were given details of the charges against the high-profile inmate who had to inform them about his family details and who will come to visit him in jail.
In view of his advanced age, he will be provided services of a physician to check his blood pressure at night. He may also be given personal use of the barrack that normally houses 10 inmates.
A jail official, asked how new inmates are woken up in the morning, simply said: "Do you think a high-profile inmate like Chidambaram will be able to get any sleep in the jail cell on his first night?"
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