Explain delay in taking Shetye to hospital: HC

The Bombay High Court on Monday asked Byculla Prison officials why it took them so long to take inmate Manjula Shetye to the hospital, after she was allegedly assaulted. Shetye died in custody on June 23, before she could be taken to JJ Hospital. Six prison officials have been arrested by the Mumbai Crime Branch for alleged involvement in the case.

A division bench of Justice RM Sawant and Justice Sadhana Jadhav observed, "What did you (prison officials) do after the incident came to light? Why is the FIR registered by a prison inmate and not jail officials?" The court has asked the department to file an affidavit within two weeks in reply to a Public interest litigation (PIL) filed by activist Pradeep Bhalekar. He alleged there was a delay in registration of the offence and sought to transfer the probe of the case to the Criminal Investigation Department. Advocate Nitin Satpute, who represents Bhalekar, relied on media reports and Shetye's post mortem reports to argue that IPC Section 377 (Unnatural Sex) should be applied.

Public Prosecutor Mankuwar Deshmukh said that the Crime Branch was handling the investigation and no case has been made for Section 377. However, the bench said "Tell us why the section should not be applied to your affidavit..." It reiterated why no report was filed by jail officials. "Do inmates have access?," it asked, "Are they supposed to call the police if there is an incident in prison? Whose responsibility was it?"