A high-level committee appointed by the Maharashtra government on Monday decided to release around 50 per cent inmates, temporarily. This is being done to decongest prisons across the state in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
The high-power committee was appointed by the Maharashtra government for the emergency release on parole or bail of prison inmates after the Supreme Court asked the states to reduce overcrowding in jails.
The committee comprises of Bombay High Court Justice AA Sayed, Additional Chief Secretary of Maharashtra Home Department Sanjay Chahande and Maharashtra Director General Prisons SN Pandey.
The decision by the committee to release nearly 17,000 prisoners comes after the staff and inmates at Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail were tested positive for the coronavirus or COVID-19. There are nearly 35,239 prisoners across jails in Maharashtra.
The committee informed that the releasing of 50 per cent prisoners out of the 35,239 would substantially decongest the prisons across the state. The prison authorities will follow due process of law before releasing the prisoners, it added.
A total of 200 people have been tested for the COVID-19 in Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail. Of these 170 are prisoners while 30 are prison officials. The Maharashtra Home Department on Monday wrote to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) asking for quarantine centres for the inmates.
Moreover, other COVID-19 cases were being reported at women’s prison in Byculla. As of May 11, the number of cases in Maharashtra has increased to 23,401 while the death toll in the state has reached to 868.
Of these, Mumbai alone has reported 14,521 COVID-19 cases. With this, the risk of infection spread has increased in the prisons across the state, especially those which fall under red zones.
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