Thousands of prisoners being released on interim bail or parole
| Date :31-Mar-2020 |
NEW DELHI/BHOPAL :
THOUSANDS of prisoners in overcrowded jails across the country are being released on interim bail or parole in an unprecedented step to prevent the spread of coronavirus and also to avoid any clashes, as authorities scramble to stop the pandemic in its tracks. In Delhi’s Tihar prison that is bursting at the seams, 1,500 inmates are likely to be released soon in the second batch, officials said on Monday. Over 400 inmates from the planned number of 3,000 have already come out in the first phase to decongest the Asia’s largest jail complex, they said. According to data provided by the Director General, Prisons, for an official review meeting, the 16 jails in Delhi with a total capacity for 10,026 prisoners have 17,440 inmates of whom 14,355 are undertrial prisoners.
Tihar accounts for the maximum number of jails while some are located in Mandoli and in Rohini. The review meeting was also told that no case of COVID-19 has been detected among the inmates and every nook and corner of the prison campuses was being regularly sanitized and cleaned, as jails emerged as potential infection hotspots. The move by prison authorities followed a Supreme Court order on March 23 that all the States and Union Territories must set up high-level panels which would consider releasing all convicts who have been jailed for up to seven years on parole to decongest jails in an attempt to contain the coronavirus outbreak. The number of COVID-19 cases in the country climbed to 1,071 while the death toll rose to 29.
Court grants bail to 3 Shaheen Bagh protesters to de-congest prisons
NEW DELHI :
A DELHI court has granted bail to three persons, arrested for allegedly not moving away from the Shaheen Bagh anti-CAA protest site and obstructing police officials, so as to de-congest jails in view of coronavirus. Metropolitan Magistrate Jitendra Pratap Singh granted relief to Shan Mohammed, Syed Masood Ahmed, Syed Taseer Ahmed taking into account the directions of the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court to de-congest already overpopulated prisons in the wake of coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic. The court however imposed certain restrictions on them, including that they cannot mobilise a crowd at the protest site. The court further directed them not to post any opinion regarding the CAA, National Population Register (NPR), National Register Citizen on any social media, instant messengers or give any interview in this regard to print and electronic media.