While Tejpal has been allowed home food, Mickky had to eat jail food served to ordinary prisoners
VIBHA VERMA
vibha@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Disgraced former Editor in Chief of Tehelka ~Tarun Tejpal, who on Sunday was remanded to six days police custody on charges of alleged rape on a woman colleague, is going through a hard time with three nights and two days already spent behind bars. Not too long back, another high profile visitor ~former minister and Nuvem MLA Francisco ‘Mickky’ Pacheco too was in the custody of Crime Branch.
However, while Tejpal has been allowed home food, a thick bed sheet to sleep on and a blanket, Mickky had to eat jail food, served to ordinary prisoners and to use newspapers to sleep on.
The politician was a Crime Branch ‘guest’ in connection with the death of his friend Nadia Torrado in May 2010. He was remanded to seven days police custody by judicial magistrate first class (JMFC). Tejpal has got six days instead.
“Mickky was lodged at Panjim cell where Tejpal is presently kept. During interrogation, Mickky would be taken to CB office where he would read newspapers during free time. After the grilling would end, he would clutch the newspapers in his hand… When questioned, he would request the police to allow him to carry the papers for reading in the cell (as he too like Tejpal did not get sleep on concrete floor) and later to sleep on the newspapers ,” recalled police sources.
What’s more interesting is that the Nadia case has not been charge sheeted even after more than three years of the incident.
However, sources concede that in the Mickky case, home food and bedsheets were not apparently asked for and thus these things were not given.
On Sunday, minutes after Tejpal was remanded, his lawyers approached the JMFC that he be allowed to use an electric or battery fan since the barrack lacks adequate ventilation.
Special Public Prosecutor Francis Tavera argued before Magistrate Kshama Joshi to oppose the request citing Bombay High Court rules which do not permit such facility to prisoners.
“It is beyond the scope of Bombay High Court and this court (JMFC) is bound by it,” he argued when the matter came up for hearing on Monday. The SPP pointed out that Tejpal is in fact only allowed clothing and bedding excluding food and list of other necessaties.
While defence counsel Raunak Rao told the court that it is not a matter of pride but on humanitarian grounds that a fan should be permitted. “There is no free and thorough ventilation in the cell,” he said which was countered by prosecution saying no prisoner complained of lack of ventilation before. The order has been kept for Wednesday.
On Monday afternoon, for the first time since he is imprisoned, Tejpal had meal provided by the police. “He is eating vegetarian food. Except for Monday’s lunch which was offered by crime branch, he has been eating food brought by his family. He is served rice, dal (lentil), rotis, papad and pickle,” said an official. Dinner is usually served to prisoners in lock-up at about 7:30 pm and the lights in the barracks are put-off by 10 pm.
He had refused Sunday’s breakfast ~tea and bread offered by the police and instead ate pav-bhaji, brought by his family. But on Monday at about 8am, he could not refuse milk tea provided by the police, which was offered to other prisoners as well.
It was also told that a mosquito coil was provided to him since he spent a restless and sleepless night since mosquitoes were biting him on the first night in jail.
He has been given to wear nightclothes provided by his family instead of jail uniform
. He wore the same blue shirt under a black blazer for two days and changed to a T-shirt on Monday morning and a maroon shirt and same trousers in the evening while being taken to Goa Medical College, Bambolim.
