NGO seeks HC relief for inmates after Covid-19 spreads in Maharashtra prisons

Concerned by the spurt in Covid-19 cases in Arthur Road prison, an NGO, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) recently filed a public interest litigation in

Concerned by the spurt in Covid-19 cases in Arthur Road prison, an NGO, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) recently filed a public interest litigation in the Bombay high court (HC) seeking various reliefs for inmates in prisons across the state.

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The PIL filed through senior advocate Mihir Desai and advocates Isha Khandelwal and Kritika Agarwal was mentioned before the division bench headed by chief justice Dipankar Datta on Tuesday through video conference and has been posted for detailed hearing on May 19.

According to the PIL, “Maharashtra prisons, detention centres, juvenile homes are some of the most overcrowded prisons/detention centres in the country. Covid-19 spreads quickly in closed spaces and given the existing overcrowding and resultant poor conditions in Indian prisons, there was an imminent fear of the spread of Covid-19 among the prisoners and the staff in Maharashtra Prison.”

The PIL, while seeking directions to the state to improve health and hygiene facilities for inmates and staff, has also sought to allow phone calls and video conferencing for inmates so that they may speak with family members and lawyers who are in panic after it was reported that many inmates and staff of Arthur Road jail had tested positive for the coronavirus disease. The NGO has also sought a report on the number of inmates across the prisons who fall in the vulnerable category and provision of timely health care for non-infected inmates, among other reliefs.

The PIL has sought three main prayers and directions. The first being, “The state should file a report on the number of doctors and health workers available in the prison and quarantine centres with information regarding the capacity and the present occupancy of all the prisons, numbers of inmates tested in each prison and their respective results.” It also sought conduction of weekly external inspection of prisons by health officers and provision of N95 masks and other protective gears to inmates and jail staff.

The second direction seeks provision of facilities to prisoners to communicate with their family members and lawyers through phone calls or video conference to convey their health status and also sought provision of minimum monthly sustenance for inmates so that they may purchase food and other daily needs as money orders from their families were not reached due to the lockdown. The PIL states that ever since it was reported that a number of inmates and staff of Arthur Road jail and a few inmates of Satara jail had tested positive, there was widespread panic among family members and lawyers.

The last prayer by PUCL seeks directions to the state to submit a report detailing measures taken for prevention and preparedness to control Covid-19 outbreak in prisons and other places of detention. The report should also include details on whether the protocols for the screening of staff and inmates and others entering and leaving the prison were followed and steps taken by the authorities to test existing prisoners.