New Delhi, Jun 17 (IANS): The Supreme Court on Friday sought the response of the Centre on the plea by conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar claiming a threat to his life inside the Tihar Jail and seeking a shift to any other prison outside of Delhi.

"I asked for a shift to a prison anywhere out of Delhi, saying my client is willing to go anywhere in the country due to the threat to my life from the Tihar authorities and the court responded positively," his counsel Ashok K. Singh told IANS.

"I am not seeking to be transferred to a prison of my choice. I am entitled to the security of my life. Put me under any condition, produce me virtually but I have a tremendous threat to my life," counsel argued during the course of the hearing.

Chandrashekhar had moved the Supreme Court to seek his transfer from Tihar Jail to another prison, saying that since he has levelled allegations against jail officials, he faces a threat to his life.

The matter would now be heard on Monday.

A counter-affidavit submitted by the Delhi Police before the apex court earlier stated that Chandrashekhar, who is in judicial custody since April 28, 2017, was lodged in Jail no 1 in Tihar initially and then shifted to Jails no 7, 4 ,8, 3, 10, 4 and is now again in jail no 1 since January 25 this year.

Prior to that the Delhi High Court also sought the response of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on a plea moved by the jailed conman alleging that the Tihar prison authorities have extorted around Rs 12.5 crore from him in the last two years.

Chandrashekhar, who is charged with many multi-crore fraud cases, is also accused of extorting Rs 200 crore from the family of former Fortis Healthcare and Ranbaxy Lab promoters Shivinder and Malvinder Singh from the premises of the prison. The conman was reportedly giving Rs 75 lakh per fortnight as a bribe for a mobile phone.

Many Tihar officials were booked after the reports and many are under the scanner after the incident.