Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) V K Bansal observed that Mohammed Sultan, accused in a dacoity case, had “knowingly” violated the manuals that prohibited undertrials to consume anything without judicial officers’ permission during court hearings.

Bansal said the fact that Sultan had “concealed the packets of tobacco (khaini) and took it without permission shows that he was conscious he was taking something wrong”. The ASJ has directed policemen escorting Sultan from jail to the court for hearings to handcuff him from now on.

Sultan’s case is being heard in the Patiala House Courts, for a dacoity case registered against him at Lodhi Colony Police Station last year.

While on earlier occasions Sultan managed to slip the tobacco packets, brought by acquaintances to the court complex, he was recently caught in the act — hiding the packs in his clothes — by the policemen. The police then lodged a complaint with ASJ Bansal.

Sultan told the court that he was not aware of the bar against chewing tobacco in jail. But ASJ Bansal said the fact that he hit the tobacco pouches substantiated the charge — that his act was deliberate, and that he was aware that it was not permissible.