LAHORE, Oct 20: Justice Sheikh Abdur Rashid of the Lahore High Court on Thursday ordered prosecution against three personnel of the Central Jail, Faisalabad, including the superintendent and deputy-superintendent, who were held responsible for severely torturing an inmate.

The court issued such orders to the inspector-general of the Prisons department, who appeared in the process of a writ petition through which Mohammad Ramzan, the brother of a prisoner Mohammad Ghufran, stated that the three jail officials had made his brother almost a disabled person.

The court directed the Punjab home and health secretaries to appear on Oct 27 with reports on the incident which took place on Sept 9. The home secretary was required by the court to suspend superintendent Shaukat Ali Bhatti, deputy-superintendent Abdullah Khan Niazi and chief warder Mohammad Riaz and submit a report.

The health secretary was served with a notice to explain why the grievously injured prisoner was not given proper surgical treatment.

The court also ordered the Faisalabad SP, who appeared on behalf of the DPO, to register criminal cases against the three offending jail employees and produce them in the court on the same date in handcuffs.

The petitioner submitted that his brother was so severely beaten by the jail staff that he was not able to stand. The jail staff, according to the petition, pulled his brother’s legs in the opposite direction with ropes. The jail authorities, the petitioner stated, did not even bother to get Ghufran treated properly. He was sent to a private clinic where he was almost neglected by doctors who only provided him with the first aid.

The court was informed by the Prisons IG that he had ordered the suspension of chief warder soon after the incident. But the record showed the warder was placed under suspension on Sept 25. The court took a serious notice of the inordinate delay in action and reprimanded the officer with the remarks that the staff should have been proceeded against soon after the incident.

On a court query, the IG submitted that he was not competent to take action against the two officials. He stated that the home department was empowered to suspend an officer. When asked whether he (IG) had written to the home department for action against the defaulting officials, he stated that he had not written a formal letter to the home department.

On a court question, a hospital official stated that Ghufran was not given a proper treatment because the clinic was not equipped with necessary facilities.

The offending deputy-superintendent submitted on a court query that he and other jail officials had only tried to separate some prisoners who were indulging in a fist fight.

The petitioner also alleged the jail staff had thrashed his brother because he had refused to give them Rs5,000 which they had demanded for provision of better facilities in the jail. The court sent the copy of the writ petition to the anti-corruption establishment for a probe and action if the allegation was found to be true.