Mumbai: Supreme Court, in a move to slow down the acute spread of Coronavirus, COVID-19, has issued directive to prisons to decrease overcrowding in prisons within three days of the order.

Maharashtra’s Home Minister, Anil Deshmukh, through his twitter handle, has announced that the State would release 11,000 undertrials on bail from 60 prisons for offences with prescribed punishment up to 7 years or less on emergency parole/ furlough to reduce overcrowding in prisons and contain the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak.” The release will be on temporary bail.

At a press conference, Additional Director General of Police (Prisons) Sunil Ramanand said, the reduction of the prison population was essential due to its over- population at present.

About 45 per cent inmates at Arthur Road Jail, Thane Jail, Nashik Jail and Yerwada Central Prison undertrials are taken to various courts for hearings. To prevent the spread of Coronavirus there is a dire need to stop taking prisoners out of the jail. Over the next 15 days they will be produced before the courts via video conferencing,” he said. Meetings with families were also cancelled for a fortnight. Isolation cells had been created within the prison and medical checks of prisoners had commenced, l said the Police Official.

Like most decisions made in a crisis, this could be a double-edged sword. While there will be a double benefit of relief to the undertrials and a lessening of the virus spreading within the prison, there is another obvious danger.

Prison staff who have contact with the outside world could easily have been passing on the virus to prisoners who, when released, will carry this to their families and neighbours.

There has been no talk of thorough pre-release medical checks, home quarantine or even provisions for released undertrials whose homes are not in Mumbai.

News Edit by KVRaman