The Tripura High Court has upheld a recommendation directing the state government to pay Rs 4 lakh to the widow and children of a convict who died by suicide in a central jail, finding that prison authorities failed in their duties and that the prisoner faced discriminatory treatment.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice M S Ramachandra Rao and Justice Biswajit Palit dismissed a petition filed by the Inspector General of Prisons challenging the Tripura Human Rights Commission’s recommendation. The court directed the authorities to release the compensation within one month and submit a compliance report.
Dilip Debbarma, who was serving a 12-year rigorous imprisonment sentence, was found hanging from an exhaust fan in a prison toilet on October 23, 2024. The case came before the court after the THRC examined the circumstances surrounding his death and held that the prison administration had been negligent.
According to the commission’s findings cited in the case, Debbarma alone had been assigned to clean a room housing a German Shepherd. The task, the commission found, was not assigned to other convicts. The THRC treated this as evidence of discriminatory treatment inside the prison.
The commission also held that warder Raju Debbarma had been negligent in supervising the prisoner in an area without CCTV coverage. The absence of camera coverage in the location became a significant part of the findings concerning prison oversight and monitoring.
The state government had relied on a magisterial inquiry report while challenging the compensation recommendation. The High Court rejected that argument, observing that an inquiry under Section 196 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita determines only the apparent cause of death and does not examine whether prison officials were negligent.
By upholding the THRC’s findings, the court distinguished between establishing how a prisoner died and examining whether administrative failures contributed to the death or left the person inadequately protected. The ruling therefore places responsibility for custodial oversight beyond the limited scope of a statutory inquiry into the apparent cause of death.
The compensation is to be paid to Debbarma’s widow and children. The human rights commission has also recommended departmental proceedings against the officials concerned. The authorities must submit the court-ordered compliance report within the one-month period set by the judgment.
