The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the Centre to empower senior officials of the Tihar jail to grant parole to prisoners to facilitate their quick release.
A Division Bench of Justice MK Sharma and Justice Hema Kohli asked the Union Home Ministry to issue a circular empowering Inspector General (IG), Director General (DG) or Jail Superintendent of Tihar jail to grant permission to release the convicts on parole within three weeks' time.
The Bench passed the order following a submission made by the counsel for Delhi government that the state has initiated the process for the amendment in the Jail Manual. It will take about three months time for the government to complete the process.
As per the manual, only the Lt Governor is empowered to consider the application filed by prisoners seeking to be released on parole.
The court was hearing a writ petition filed by an NGO, Social Jurist, seeking its intervention in directing the government for expansion of the jail and provide basic amenities in the overcrowded Tihar jail.
Earlier, the government counsel through an affidavit, informed the court that six new jails have been constructed to mitigate the problems which arise due to overcrowding.
The government counsel also told the court that the jail authorities have laid down pipelines to provide drinking water to the prisoners adding that some old structures in the premises have been removed to set up toilets for them.
{{/usCountry}}The government counsel also told the court that the jail authorities have laid down pipelines to provide drinking water to the prisoners adding that some old structures in the premises have been removed to set up toilets for them.
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