15,771 prisoners will have to be released to give each inmate 40-sqft space: State

In an affidavit filed before Bombay high court (HC), Maharashtra prisons said that in order to house each prisoner in a space measuring 40 square feet as per the prison manual, 15,771 inmates would have to be released.

The affidavit was filed on HC’S direction, responding to a plea that sought information on the health status of convicts and undertrials in state prisons. It also said three inmates have died of Covid-19 in state prisons so far.

Three separate petitions, including one filed by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), have sought the court’s intervention to decongest state prisons. According to the report on actions taken to contain the spread of Covid-19 in prisons, prison authorities stated that as of May 25, 8,407 inmates have either been released on parole or bail. Prisons are also functioning with half their medical staff at present. The affidavit said also three inmates were asymptomatic carriers who tested positive for Covid-19 after they passed away in May.

The division bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice KK Tated asked the state to submit a report on testing facilities in all jails within two weeks. Arthur Road jail has reported the highest number of Covid-19 cases (158) among the six prisons in Maharashtra that have reported Covidpositive inmates.

The court also directed the state to inform relatives of those infected in Arthur Road jail of their health status.

Public prosecutor Deepak Thakare informed the bench through video conferencing that approximately 8,000 inmates out of the 37,000 currently in state prisons have been released on interim bail or parole. Another 14,000 would be released once concerned magistrates heard the bail applications.

The division bench directed magistrates to expeditiously hear interim bail applications filed by jail authorities.