After 100 prisoners test Covid-19 positive, Uttarakhand jail admin mulls release of inmates on parole

The bail and parole would be granted to those inmates who are “not dangerous criminals and pose no danger to society,” officials said.

The Uttarakhand jail administration in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19 in jails has written to the State Legal Services Authority to grant bail and parole to a few inmates so as to ease the congestion in jails, officials said.

There have been about 100 cases of Covid-19 infection among Uttarakhand jail inmates so far. (HT PHOTO.)

The bail and parole would be granted to those inmates who are “not dangerous criminals and pose no danger to society,” officials said.

There have been about 100 cases of Covid-19 infection among the jail inmates so far.

PVK Prasad, Additional Director General (Jail), said, “We have written to the State Legal Services Authority to seek their permission to initiate the process for the same. It is being done to ease the congestion in the jails which at present have about 5,000 inmates against the total capacity of 3,800.”

“Once we get permission from the authority, we will initiate the process of identifying the suitable inmates for parole and bail. In this, only those inmates who are not dangerous criminals and are not a danger to society, would be considered,” Prasad said.

“It will somewhat ease the number of prisoners in jails which is important for proper implementation of the Covid-19 precautions to curb the spread. So far, 100 inmates have tested positive for the virus. We are taking all precautionary measures to prevent the infection from spreading,” Prasad said.