80 per cent of the inmates in Tihar jail are undertrials

Tihar Jail has 17,400 inmates, including 14,000 undertrials: Officials

PTI8_30_2019_000093A Senior Congress leader and former Union minister P Chidambaram after being produced at a CBI court in the INX media case, in New Delhi | PTI

Former Union finance minister P. Chidambaram, who is on a 14-day judicial custody till September 19, is the latest inmate of the Tihar jail in New Delhi, known to be the largest in Asia with 16 prisons.

Chidambaram, who is just 10 days short of his 74th birthday, has not been granted any special preveles except a separate cell and a Western toilet as ordered by the court.

He was on Thursday taken in a blue police bus to the prison from a special CBI court in Rouse Avenue—a distance of 18 km—and was ironically lodged in Jail No.7, where his son Karti was locked up for 12 days in the same INX Media case last year.

Jail No.7 usually houses those facing Enforcement Directorate (ED) cases.

Till December 31, 2018, there were 14,938 male and 530 female inmates lodged in the jail—an increase of 2.02 per cent compared to the numbers as on December 31, 2017.

The hike was due to an increase in the number of undertrials (1.67 per cent).

An increase of 2.23 per cent in the number of convicts has been observed compared to last year.

Tihar has housed a number of high-profile inmates, including late Congress leader Sanjay Gandhi, former JNUSU leader Kanhaiya Kumar, RJD chief Lalu Yadav, industrialist Subrata Roy, gangsters Chhota Rajan and Charles Sobhraj, social activist Anna Hazare and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The convicts in the infamous Nirbhaya gangrape case were also lodged in the jail.

While in custody, Chidambaram will continue to be privided Z-class security and the court has given permission to take his medicines along with him. Like other inmates, he will also have access to the prison's library and can watch television for a specified period.

(With inputs from PTI)