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What is the issue

  • Social activist Medha Patkar has approached the Supreme Court for seeking directions to the Centre and all states and union territories for taking immediate steps to formulate a uniform mechanism to decongest prisons across India through releasing the prisoners who are above 70 years of age, either on interim bail or emergency parole, to safeguard their interests.
  • The plea was filed through Advocate Vipin Nair which submits that the World Health Organization has declared that COVID-19 causes higher mortality amongst older persons, particularly in persons with underlying medical conditions. Consequently, the Ministry of Health has also issued a Health Advisory for Elderly people, highlighting ways to reduce mortality rates amongst prisoners.
  • Patkar said she has moved the top court for directions to the Centre, states and union territories, and high-powered committees (HPCs) to formulate a uniform mechanism to decongest the prisons pan-India, concerning the release of the prisoners above the age of 70.

Observations of the Court

  • The Supreme Court had directed States/UTs to constitute high-powered committees (HPCs) to determine the class of prisoners who could be released on emergency parole or interim bail. It was further clarified that the purpose of the direction was to ensure that States/UTs could assess the situation in their prisons in light of the pandemic and then ascertain the category of prisoners who can be released.
  • The plea stated that it had not directed the states or union territories to compulsorily release the prisoners from their respective prisons. Its purpose was to ensure that the states and union territories could assess the situation in their prisons concerning the outbreak of the ongoing pandemic in the country and determine the category of prisoners to be released.
  • The plea said that as most of the categorization of prisoners is based on social conditions and factors of administrative convenience, the HPCs have not taken into account their vulnerability to the infection.
  • The plea referring to the Right to Health enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution, therefore prays for directions to the Respondents to adopt a uniform method to release the elderly prisoners incarcerated in prisons across the country either on interim bail or emergency parole.

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