A high-powered committee, headed by Delhi High Court judge Justice Hima Kohli, has cautioned the DG (Prisons) and Delhi government’s Principal Secretary (Home) that any delay in release of the eligible convicts on “emergency parole” so as to complete the exercise of decongestion of jail, “will make the entire effort futile”.
‘Emergency parole’
The observation of the chairperson of the committee came after it was informed that the number of convicts eligible for “emergency parole” was about 1,500. However, only 650 convicts have been released so far.
The city government had relaxed the norms for grant of parole to eligible inmates lodged in jails here following the outbreak of COVID-19. As part of the effort to decongest jails, a new provision of “emergency parole” for a period of eight weeks has been introduced for the eligible inmates.
Safety measures
Meanwhile, the Tihar jail authority also informed the committee that fresh inmates are kept at separate wards in the jail so that they do not intermingle with those already inside.
The DG (Prisons) stated that Tihar jail receives on an average 25-30 fresh inmates during the lockdown period, who are kept in separate wards.
The committee was also informed that the advocates empanelled with the Delhi State Legal Service Authority, are visiting jail premises on daily basis, and had drafted and filed about 1,500 applications for grant of interim bail. Out of these bail applications, “interim bail” has already been granted in approximately 823 cases.
The committee was of the opinion that the criteria needs to be further relaxed to give effect to directions of the Supreme Court to decongest jails. This will include grant of interim bail for 45 days to various eligible inmates.
DG (Prisons) has informed that on the basis of this new criterion, approximately 973 more Under Trial Prisoners (UTPs) would be the beneficiaries and their release would considerably ease out the jail population.
The panel was also apprised that the jail population has come down from 17,552 as on March 25, 2020, to 16,179 as on April 7, 2020. On complete implementation of the said criteria, it would further come down to about 15,500.
It also said that out of the in-house manufacturing of soap cakes, liquid soaps, phenyl, masks, and sanitisers, adequate number of these materials have been sent to Juvenile Justice Boards or Observation Homes, as per the requirement received from them, besides the same being put to use in all the jails.
