SC refuses to extend bail of prisoners freed due to Covid

SC refuses to extend bail of prisoners freed due to Covid

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:02.03.2021 

Prisoners who were released last year to decongest jails in Delhi due to the outbreak of Covid-19 will now have to return to the prison as the Supreme Court on Monday refused to extend their bail.

A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and S Ravindra Bhat said the situation is now improving and the pandemic seemed to be under control and prisoners can go back to jail. It granted them 15 days time to surrender before the jail authorities.

There are over 2,600 prisoners who were granted bail by the Delhi high court or lower courts in view of the pandemic and their bail was extended from time to time.

Though the prisoners contended that jails in Delhi are still overcrowded as there are 17,000 inmates against the sanctioned strength of 10,000, the bench, however, said it would examine how to deal with the problem of overcrowding of jails in future while refusing to grant them relief.

The trial court had granted bail to 2318 under-trials and the high court had released 356 inmates last year on interim bail.

The apex court passed the order on a petition challenging the Delhi high court order which had in October directed the prisoners to surrender by November 13. Earlier, the SC stayed the HC order and agreed to hear the prisoners’ plea for more time to surrender.