Indrani Mukerjea was arrested in August and has been lodged at the Byculla jail since September 7.
As Indrani Mukerjea battles for life at a Mumbai Hospital, questions are being raised over how she managed to overdose on drugs while at a high- security prison in the city.
On Friday morning, Ms Mukerjea, 43, a former media executive arrested for murdering her daughter three years ago, was rushed to hospital after allegedly trying to kill herself through a combination of pills usually given for treatment of depression and epilepsy.
Ms Mukerjea, who is married to former media mogul Peter Mukerjea, was had been prescribed the medicines by doctors after she was arrested in August.
"It is possible that she kept the medicines given to her and consumed them together later,"
said Vijay Singh, a top bureaucrat in the state's Home department.
But the police are yet to say how she managed to accrue a stockpile of medicines - rules make it necessary for prisoners to take their medicines in the presence of jail officials, partly to ensure that there is a careful supervision of how much and what sort of drugs are consumed.
Dr TP Lahane, who is treating Ms Mukerjea, has said, according to a urine test report from a hospital laboratory, that his patient's sample showed 10 times the acceptable level benzodiazepine - an anti-depressant.
"The report is positive for drug overdose," Dr Lahane told news agency Press Trust of India.
Jail officials say Ms Mukerjea collapsed at 6 am while reading the Bhagvad Gita, and was taken to hospital at 2 pm. The authorities say jail doctors tried reviving her, but offer no reason for the eight-hour delay in taking her to hospital.
So far, no official at the prison has been penalised but a report on the incident and lapses is being readied and is expected within a week.