The Bombay High Court on Wednesday asked the Maharashtra prison authorities to inform on how long it plans to keep Himayat Baig, convicted in the 2010 Pune’s German Bakery Blast case, in solitary confinement. He is at present lodged at the Nashik Central Prison.
The court has directed the state advocate Prajakta Shinde to take necessary instructions from the Inspector General of Prison department on whether Baig could be moved from the Anda cell (solitary confinement) to a high security cell in the jail.
The HC was hearing a petition by Baig urging to be shifted out of solitary confinement. He said he has been lodged in the anda cell for 12 years.
Shinde informed the court that Baig was convicted in the bomb blast case and was sentenced to life in prison.
The court expressed that while it understood the security concerns, it asked how long could a prisoner be kept in such solitary confinement. “We understand your security concern but you know the situation, there is no light, no air. You don't remove anyone from the Anda cell even when food is given,” a bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Shyam Chandak said.
It said: “No one is asking you to keep him with other prisoners. The question is how long can you keep him in Anda cell? You don't take out a person in 12 years. You can't keep someone there indefinitely.”
The HC has sought the State’s response and kept the matter for hearing on June 20.
In February 2010 a bomb went off in the German Bakery in Pune in which 17 people were killed and at least 60 persons were injured. Baig was the only person to be convicted in the case. Six accused were charge-sheeted in the case, including Yasin Bhatkal, who is alleged to have planted the bomb, are still absconding.
