Tihar to get new wards to meet int'l standards

Inside Delhi's Tihar Prison Complex, construction crews are working around the clock to finish two new high-security wards — designed not for hardened local criminals, but for white-collar fugitives the Indian government is seeking to extradite back to the country.

- Hemani Bhandari

The wards, expected to be ready within 10 days, are being built in jail numbers 4 and 7 to house high-profile economic offenders whose extradition has long been stalled by concerns over Indian prison conditions, according to two officials familiar with the matter.

The move comes after officials from Britain's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) inspected Tihar in September to assess whether the facility could meet the standards required to house extradited individuals.

Officials said the new wards are being constructed to comply with global human rights benchmarks such as the “United Nations’ Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners”, known better as the “Nelson Mandela Rules”. These rules mandate adequate space, ventilation, lighting, sanitation, and access to hygiene facilities.

Indian authorities believe the new wards will address objections raised by international courts in in the recent past. For instance, Britain's Westminster Court ordered London-based arms middleman Sanjay Bhandari’s extradition to India in November 2022, but Bhandari successfully challenged this in the UK High Court. In February, the court, while blocking his extradition, ruled that Bhandari “would be at real risk of extortion, torture or violence in Tihar jail from other prisoners or prison officials.”