Maharashtra govt yet to act on panel’s recommendations on decongesting jails amid COVID-19

In light of the ongoing lockdown, the Supreme Court of India had ordered all States to consider releasing some prisoners on parole to reduce overcrowding in prisons and to constitute a 'High Powered Committee' which will decide on the matter. It has been more than a month since state Home Minister announced that 11,000 prisoners will be released from state prisons, the Maharashtra government is yet to decide on the recommendations of the committee.

Around 36,000 prisoners across jails in Maha

According to media reports, at least 20 jails in the state are facing overcrowding that could lead to them becoming a possible COVID-19 hotspot. Arthur Road jail in Mumbai has around 2.400 prisoners which is more than twice its capacity, while Yerwada jail in Pune has over 6,000 inmates, and Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai has over 3,000 prisoners.

There are around 36,000 prisoners across jails in Maharashtra, out of which 8,500 prisoners have been convicted. The total capacity of these jails is 24,000 so most jails in the state are overpopulated. As of Tuesday, 4,611 accused who were serving jail sentences for non-serious crimes, have been released on bail. However, the state administration continues to keep those involved in serious crimes behind bars.

Some 11,000 prisoners in Maharashtra, including those whose sentence period is less than seven years, will be released on parole for 45 days to reduce crowding and avoid the spread of coronavirus in jails, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said on March 26. He made the announcement through an official tweet from his handle @AnilDeshmukhNCP. The measure also covers under-trials, the minister said later.

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According to the National Crime Records Bureau statistics for the year 2018, the prisons in India have an average occupancy rate of 117.6%. The majority of the prison population (69.4%) are undertrials.

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The Supreme Court on March 23 ordered all states and Union Territories to set up high-level panels which would consider releasing all convicts who have been jailed for up to seven years on parole to decongest jails in an attempt to contain the Covid-19 outbreak. The bench suggested that undertrials awaiting trial for offences entailing maximum sentence of seven years also be extended a similar benefit. The undertrial review committee must meet every week, it said.

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