Supreme Court asks all prisoners released on ‘Covid parole’ to surrender

New Delhi, March 24

The Supreme Court on Friday directed all prisoners released on emergency parole by the state high-powered committees constituted on its order during the Covid-19 to surrender in 15 days.

15-day deadline

• The prisoners have been told to surrender within 15 days
• A convict’s plea seeking to consider the parole as part of actual sentence rejected
• SC says convicts free to seek suspension of sentence by approaching courts concerned

A Bench led by Justice MR Shah said after surrender, it would be open for undertrial prisoners to apply for bail before the competent court and their applications would be considered in accordance with the law. Regarding convicts released on emergency parole, the Bench said they were free to seek suspension of sentence by approaching the court before which their appeals were pending. The top court also rejected a convict’s plea seeking consideration of parole granted during the pandemic to be counted as part of his actual sentence.

Taking suo motu cognisance of the medical assistance needed for prisoners in overcrowded jails to save them from coronavirus, the Supreme Court had on March 16, 2020, issued notices to chief secretaries, home secretaries, DGs (Prisons) and social welfare secretaries of all states and UTs. It had also asked them to suggest immediate measures to be taken for medical protection of prisoners in jails and juveniles lodged in remand homes.

There are 1,339 prisons in this country, and approximately 4,66,084 inmates inhabit such prisons. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, the occupancy rate of Indian prisons is at 117.6 per cent, and in states such as UP and Sikkim, the occupancy rate is as high as 176.5 per cent and 157.3 per cent, respectively, it had noted. The SC had passed several orders during the first and second waves of the pandemic for grant of emergency parole to prisoners to avoid overcrowding of prisons to check the spread of Covid.