A Delhi judge on Tuesday expressed displeasure with Tihar and Mandoli jail authorities after several accused in a case related to the February riots said they were being denied basic facilities permissible under prison rules, and warned of a physical inspection if things did not improve.

The court ordered the director-general of Delhi prisons to look into the grievances of all the 15 accused, booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and depute someone who can take a call on inspecting the situation at the Mandoli and Tihar prisons. It asked the authorities to apprise the court of the status on November 23.

“This has to end. The director-general (prisons) is directed to take stalk of the situation, to order someone who can take a call, to look into the grievances. If things do not improve, I would go for a physical inspection myself. And the lawyers may accompany me too,” additional sessions judge Amitabh Rawat said.

During the hearing held through videoconferencing, seven of the 15 accused said they had not been given warm clothes though it was permissible under the prison rules. The prison authorities, however, said they would need a court order for it.

The minimum temperature in Delhi was 10°C on Tuesday.

Advocate Mehmood Pracha, appearing for Gulfisha Khatoon, said an application for supply of winter clothes had to be filed since the jail authorities had said they would not permit it unless there was a court directive.

When the court allowed the application, advocate Adit Pujari, appearing for JNU students Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, requested the benefit of the order to be extended to all the accused as everyone was facing the same problem.

The counsel for former Congress councillor Ishrat Jahan, one of the accused, said the jail authorities refused to entertain her plea for a pair of slippers from her home as those supplied in prison were slippery and she had suffered injuries because of them.

“When her parents went to jail yesterday (Monday) with warm clothes for her, the jail authorities did not permit it,” Jahan’s lawyer said.

While addressing the court directly, Jahan sought interim bail for two months, saying she was concerned as several inmates at Mandoli jail had developed Covid-19 symptoms.

Expressing dissatisfaction, judge Rawat said: “Why do the accused have to approach the court every time for such basic things? This is too much. This is not done. Why is everyone complaining (about the facilities in jail)?”

Another accused, Athar Khan, claimed that while two of the inmates had been hospitalised, a few had also been isolated after they showed symptoms of Covid-19. “There are no health facilities available and hence we are not being allowed to step out of our barracks,” Khan said.

Jamia Millia Islamia student Asif Iqbal Tanha alleged he was facing discrimination from the jail authorities.

“I have not been allowed to meet my family for the last two-and-a-half months even though others are being allowed. The jail authorities are not approving their application for a meeting. When I complain, the jail authorities say that this is not a place for activism,” Tanha alleged.

Advocate Sowjhanya Shankaran, appearing for Tanha, said the jail officials had also refused to give him a copy of the order through which his bail was rejected.

“I had sent the order copy to jail for Tanha. The jail superintendent refused to give it to him. It would be better if he is given access to the court’s orders and the chargesheet. I am given 30 minutes through videoconferencing during which we discuss our matter by sharing a screen. Out of the over 17,000 pages, I have been able to share and discuss only 30 pages with him till date,” Shankaran said.

Another accused, Meeran Haider, said he was down with fever because he had no winter clothes, but he had been unable to put forward his grievances to the prison authorities.

Khatoon claimed that she had written letters addressed to the higher authorities two months back regarding her alleged harassment by jail staff, but they had not been forwarded to the concerned persons.