india

Updated: Mar 19, 2019 23:31 IST

A Delhi court on Tuesday directed that Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal currently lodged in Tihar Jail, be kept out of solitary confinement. The court also asked director general of prisons to file a compliance report within three days.

The court’s observation came after Michel’s counsel Aljo K Joseph and Vishnu Sankar moved a plea for shifting Michel from a high-security cell to a normal one on the grounds that he is kept in isolation and is not allowed to interact or walk around in the prison which may affect his mental and physical health.

The court, which examined five days of CCTV footage of jail no. 1, observed that Michel is indeed kept in “total isolation” that it can cause an “array of mental disorder”.

“...solitary confinement can cause an array of mental disorder as well as provoke an already existing mental disorder in prison causing more trauma and symptoms...,” said CBI special judge Arvind Kumar.