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Rajasthan: Amid Covid-19 scare, 692 inmates released from state jails
Of the 638 inmates, 492 have been granted bail and another 146 have been released on parole, said Ashok Jain, member secretary, Rajasthan state legal service authority (RSLSA).
Rajasthan prisons department has released 638 inmates from the state’s jails and in line with the Supreme Court’s (SC) recent order to decongest prisons to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak.
Of the 638 inmates, 492 have been granted bail and another 146 have been released on parole, said Ashok Jain, member secretary, Rajasthan state legal service authority (RSLSA).
“Altogether 1,881 applications of inmates, who were all first-time offenders and booked in cases of up to seven years of rigorous imprisonment, were filed by the district legal services authority (DLSA) in respective courts. Out of these applications, 921 were rejected and the rest are pending,” Jain said.
Another 82 inmates, who were booked for petty offences, were also released by the Undertrial Review Committees (URTC’s), which is headed by a sessions court judge, district collector and superintendent of police. “The URTCs are conducting weekly meetings as per Rajasthan high court chief justice Indrajit Mahanty’s order to identify the accused who could be released amid the Covid-19 pandemic,” Jain added.
On March 23, the SC ordered all states to form a committee under the chairman of state legal services authority (SLSA), including principal secretary of the home department and director-general of jails, to take a call on which prisoners could be released on parole or interim bail to decongest jails because of the viral outbreak.
The state prisons department has conducted a 100% screening of the inmates and also interviewed them to know their recent travel history. The authorities have set up two new wards and an isolation ward to treat prisoners for Covid-19 suspect cases. Every inmate, who has been released, is kept under observation in a new ward for three days. The isolation ward is earmarked for Covid-19 suspect cases.
Besides, all meetings between prisoners and their relatives in jails are being held via video-calling facilities to ensure social distancing norms are strictly maintained.
