#Corona; Delhi HC takes suo moto cognisance of overcrowding of prisons; Releases inmates on emergency parole

New Delhi, March 30: A high powered committee, headed by a Delhi High Court judge, has directed authorities to take steps like releasing inmates on emergency parole for reducing over-crowding in jails to prevent the spread of coronavirus which has infected 1,071 people in India and claimed 29 lives. The decision was taken in a meeting held via video conferencing with officials of DG Prisons, Delhi State Legal Services Authority and Home department of the Delhi government.

  

 

The meeting was held pursuant to the March 23 direction of the apex court to every state to set up a high powered committee to take measures to reduce population of inmates in the over-crowded jails in the country by determining category of prisoners to be released on parole and interim bail.

 

The committee, constituted on the orders of the Supreme Court, deliberated on various means of achieving social distancing and resolved to quarantine fresh inmates who are foreign nationals, isolate those with flu or fever symptoms, conduct regular medical examination of the prisoners, release (those eligible) inmates on emergency parole and to grant special remission of sentence to those who have six months or less jail term left to serve.

 

According to the DG Prisons, in the 16 jails in Delhi which have a total capacity of 10,026 prisoners, there are 17,440 inmates of which 14,355 are UTPs. To avoid public contact, the Supreme court had earlier put up a notice to this effect late on Tuesday night after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus infection.