The Bombay High Court has sought all inquiry documents related to the custodial suicide of, Asghar Ali Mansoori. The court made the decision after it learned that Ali’s family was not informed that a mandatory inquiry had been initiated in the matter.
A note blaming prison officials of severe torture was found neatly wrapped in plastic inside the life convict, Asghar Ali Mansuri’s stomach during his post mortem. He was found hanging on October 7, 2020, inside the punishment cell of the prison.
A division bench of Justice SS Shinde and Justice Manish Pitale were hearing a petition filed by Mansoori’s father Mumtaz Mohammed Mansuri and People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) seeking setting up of an independent committee to investigate into the circumstances in which the man died as well as registration of an FIR against prison officials named in the suicide note.
Additional Public Prosecutor JP Yagnik submitted that he had taken instructions and learned that a mandatory judicial inquiry under section 176(1A) of the Criminal Procedure Code had been initiated. He added that the Human Rights Commission had also initiated an inquiry into the incident.
Senior advocate Mihir Desai, appearing for the petitioners, said that if an inquiry was underway, Asghar’s family wanted to be given the details relating to it. Justice Pitale too said that this should be the case, and ”ideally the father should have been involved [in the inquiry]”.
