A PIL petition has been filed in the Telangana High Court seeking direction to State government to take steps for the protection of convicts and undertrial prisoners in all the prisons of the State in the backdrop of rising cases of COVID-19.
The plea filed by convenor of Forum Against Repression and former professor G. Haragopal is likely to be heard by the High Court on Friday. The petitioner said that the Supreme Court on March 23 had instructed all the States and Union Territories to constitute high-level panels to consider the release of convicts and undertrial prisoners as coronavirus was spreading. The apex court said the prisoners can be released for four to six weeks on parole or on bail depending on the cases they were charged with.
Even a week after the SC direction, no decision was taken by the State government on the matter. This was arbitrary and illegal, the petitioner said. There were three Central prisons, seven district jails, 33 sub-jails, a women’s jail and borstal school in the State. There was an open jail and four other special jails.
The petitioner stated that there were already complaints about inadequate facilities in the prisons. Some of the jails were overcrowded with convicts and undertrial prisoners. ’There is a conspicuous lack of attention to this section of prisoners serving sentences and awaiting trial under the law,” the former professor stated. He said that other States acted swiftly by shifting the prisoners to other areas to ensure they did not contract coronavirus.
Similar action needs to be taken by Telangana government, he said.
