Bombay HC asks state, NGO to suggest measures to curb spread of Covid-19 in prisons

Mumbai The Bombay high court (HC) has sought to know from the state whether an accused person can be subjected to reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test and a vaccination shot 24 hours prior to being admitted to the prison and if they can be produced before the court through video-conferencing

Mumbai The Bombay high court (HC) has sought to know from the state whether an accused person can be subjected to reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test and a vaccination shot 24 hours prior to being admitted to the prison and if they can be produced before the court through video-conferencing.

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The court further directed the petitioner in a previous public interest litigation (PIL) regarding the condition of inmates during the Covid-19 outbreak last year to go through the state affidavit and come up with suggestions to bring down the spread of the virus among prisoners and staff.

The division bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice Girish Kulkarni, while hearing the suo motu (on its own) PIL initiated last week, was informed by advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni that as per the vacation bench’s directions, an affidavit on the status of inmates across all prisons in the state was filed. The affidavit stated that as on April 18, there were 35,124 prisoners in 60 jails, while the capacity was only for 24,032.

Kumbhakoni further submitted that as on Monday, there were 188 Covid-19 cases among inmates and staff, and proper care was being taken to curb the spread of the infection in the jails.

The PIL was prompted following a report in Hindustan Times on April 16, which stated that the number of Covid-19 cases had gone up from 47 to 200 within a month of the second wave striking the state. The vacation bench of justice Nitin Jamdar had observed that it was a serious concern and hence sought a response from the state on the measures it was taking to curb the spread of the virus in jails.

Kumbhakoni further stated that due to the increase in Covid-19 cases among inmates, vaccination of those aged above 45 was already on. While conceding that the state prison authorities had relaxed after being able to control the situation last year, steps were being taken to strengthen the precautionary measures as per the high-power committee (HPC) recommendation of May 2020. He added that those eligible for emergency bail, parole or furlough were being granted the same.

Senior advocate Mihir Desai, who had represented a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in the PIL, seeking directions to alleviate the condition of inmates in light of the pandemic last year, had submitted that there were many options before the state and prison authorities to address the problem and he wanted to enumerate the same. He added that as the HPC had met on May 2, 2020, the court should ask it to meet again and consider the current situation and modify the guidelines issued by it to decongest jails. The court, however, asked him to go through the state affidavit and give suggestions thereafter.

While seeking to know whether accused persons could be given an RT-PCR test and vaccination before they were admitted to the jails, the court also asked if the suggestion by a coordinate bench to transfer inmates from congested jails to open prisons could be considered and what further measures could be taken to resolve the problem of over-crowding posted hearing of the PIL on Thursday.

The petition is placed for hearing on Thursday.