Allahabad High Court issues notice in PIL seeking decongestion of prisons in the State in light of increase in COVID-19 cases

The Allahabad High Court today issued notice to the State of Uttar Pradesh and the State Department of Prison Administration in a PIL seeking the decongestion of the prisons in the State in light of the growing coronavirus cases in the prisons..A Bench of Justices Pritinker Diwaker and Subhash Chandra Sharma further directed the State counsel, AGA S A Murtaza, to file a counter affidavit within two weeks..The petition seeks directions to the prison authorities to consider releasing prisoners above 65 years of age or those suffering from co-morbidities in view of the Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on July 29..The PIL further calls for directions to ensure the expeditious disposal of anticipatory bail applications, bail applications, parole applications, etc. pending before the Courts across the state, so as to help along the process of decongestion..The prison authorities should also be directed to properly communicate the status of the prisoner with their concerned relatives in any circumstances, states the petition..The petitioner, Man Mohan Mishra, has submitted that although measures to maintain social distancing among the citizens are being undertaken by the authorities, the situation in the prisons have remained the same on account of overcrowding and non-management..In furthering its stance on overcrowding in prisons, the petition relies on the latest data available on the official website of the UP Prisons Administration and Reforms Services as on July 31, 2020,.As per the data, the jails in the State had total capacity of 60,580 inmates. However, the total number of prisoners locked up in jail were 1,01,958, which is approximately 178% of the occupancy rate..Out of the total present number of prisoners, 24,977 are convicted whereas 76,981 are undertrial, states the petition..The above stated numbers excludes 17,602 prisoners, which were given parole and interim bail on the basis of the recommendation of the High Powered Committee dated May 21, 2020..The petition filed by Senior Advocate Dileep Kumar makes a few suggestions as stated below-Cases relating to economic embezzlements may be segregated to one special court. Bail should be granted on the deposit of one-fourth or half of the allegedly embezzled amount on an undertaking.Those Criminal Appeals in which the accused have spent 10 or more years may be allotted to special courts for expeditious disposal. In case the appeal is not disposed of in a timely manner, timely parole may be granted until the final disposal of the said appeals.Those cases may be heard expeditiously via special court where Coronavirus has been reported in the respective prison. The prisoners may be released after they test negative.The Criminal appeals in which maximum sentence for an offence is not more than 7 years may be allotted to a special court and bail be granted on the principle of plea bargaining.The applicants aged more than 75 years may be granted parole until the disposal of their application.Anticipatory bail may be granted to the accused who has been charged of any offences punishable for not more than 7 years.Habeas Corpus writ petitions may be disposed of as expeditiously as possible and may not be kept pending for more than a month.Pending bail application of those prisoners be heard expeditiously where the corresponding prisons have occupancy of more than 100 per cent.Directions should be issued to prison authorities to undertake proper management of prisons in view of the present pandemic..Relying on a newspaper report in “The Hindu” dated July 29, 2020 the petition throws light on the fact that the State of Uttar Pradesh had recorded highest jail occupancy since 2018. The rate of occupancy was also shown as one among the highest by any state, added the report..The petition cited another report from an electronic media entity named “NewsClick” which stated that the jails in Uttar Pradesh had become “Virus Hubs”..The plea raises concern over the shortage of medical staff and the unhygienic condition of the prisons in the State, adding that the right to life of the citizens imprisoned in the jails must be protected against the dangers casted by the deadly communicable virus..The matter will be next heard on October 14, 2020..The petitioner was represented by Advocates Rajrshi Gupta and Vinayak Mithal..Read the Petition here:.Read the Order here:.Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.