Introduction
Today we will discuss another judicial
pronouncement by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the case of In Re:
Contagion of Covid 19 Virus In Prisons, Suo Motu Writ Petition (Civil)
No. 1 of 2020, wherein vide Order dated 07.05.2021, the Court provided certain
reliefs in relation to the prison inmates lodged in the Jails of India.
Background
In this case, the Court discussed that on
16.03.2020, it had sought response from the Government Officials in relation to
the immediate measures to be adopted for the welfare of prison inmates and
juveniles lodged in remand homes.
Vide Order dated 23.03.2020, various High-Powered
Committees were set up and on the basis of their recommendations, lot of
prisoners were released either on Interim Bail or Parole. Parole is temporary
release of prisoner before completion of a sentence, on the promise of good
conduct.
When the active cases reduced, those prisoners
were asked to report and close to 90% of them have returned to the prisons. The
recent spike in Covid-19 cases in India concerned the Court regarding the
spread of the Covid-19 disease in the already overcrowded prisons that lack
basic sanitation, hygiene and medical amenities.
The Court observed that there are close to four
lakh prison inmates in India and rights of the accused persons must be taken
into account by effectively managing the Covid situation in the Prisons across
India.
Directions by the Court
1. No automatic arrests in cases of Section 498A
of IPC (Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty)
and arrests to take place only after compliance of Section 41 of CrPC that
provides for when the Police may arrest without a warrant.
2. The mandate of Section 41 of CrPC needs to be
complied with. When the accused is produced before the Magistrate, he shall
peruse the Report furnished by the Police and only after recording its
satisfaction, the Magistrate will authorize detention.
3. Even the decision not to arrest needs to be
forwarded to the Magistrate within two weeks from the date of institution of
the case.
4. Notice of appearance under Section 41A of CrPC
(Notice of appearance before police officer) needs to be served on the accused
within two weeks of the institution of the case.
5. Failure in compliance of these directions shall
render the concerned officials liable for departmental action and contempt of
court before the concerned High Court. In the same manner, authorizing
detention without recording of reasons shall render the concerned Magistrates
liable for departmental action.
6. All these directions will be applicable on all
the offences that are punishable with imprisonment for a term that is seven
years or less than that.
7. The High-Powered Committees shall consider
release of prisoners either on Interim Bail or Parole based on the earlier
guidelines framed.
8. All the prisoners that were released pursuant
to the Order dated 23.03.2020, should be released by imposing appropriate
conditions, in order to save valuable time.
9. Prisoners who were granted parole earlier in
the year 2020 should be granted a parole for a period of 90 days in order to
reduce spread of Covid cases.
10. The decisions of the High-Powered Committees
and the prison occupancy status needs to be updated on the concerned websites
to “enable effective dissemination of information.”
11. Not all prisoners would want to get released
owing to their social status and fear of contracting Covid-19. The concerns of
such prisoners need to be considered in proper perspective by the authorities.
12. The prisoners who are still imprisoned must be
provided proper medical facilities and spread of disease should be controlled
in prisons by proper testing and immediate treatment.
13. Daily hygiene and sanitation is required to be
maintained and considering the lockdown and curfew situation, appropriate steps
for transportation of released inmates shall be taken.
Concluding Remarks
I find it to be a much-needed Order by the Supreme
Court. Ideally speaking, when the High-Powered Committees have already been
constituted, they could have taken this decision on their own. But such is the
dire state of affairs that the Court was required to intervene to look after
the welfare of the prison inmates.
Rights of the accused persons and prisoners cannot
be taken lightly. Such persons are a part of the society that we live in and
many of them are languishing in jail in respect of cases in which they might be
finally acquitted in the future. Some of them are languishing in jails because
of want of proper legal aid. It the responsibility of the State to take care of
all the prisoners and such responsibilities have been statutorily provided. It
is high time that prison reforms become a reality in India. And not just prison
reforms, the Trials need to be expedited too. All the concerned stakeholders
must put their petty differences aside and implement the countless directions
passed by the Supreme Court in this regard.
I think if the directions passed by the Supreme
Court are implemented in proper perspective and within time, then it would
provide a big relief to the prisoners and their families. It is not just the
prisoners whose lives are stake. Those prisoners have families and many of them
are required to be with their families due to the pandemic situation. Since
close to a month has already passed when this Order was dictated by the Court,
I hope that the States and the Union Territories have implemented these
directions by now.
For more on Reforms in Criminal Trials, please
visit my earlier posts at
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