The convicts who were released due to the Covid-19 pandemic under the orders of the high-power committee will now be readmitted to the respective jails. To this end, the prison authorities have been ordered to ensure the readmission of convicts according to the criteria established by the high-power committee and also to ensure that the readmission of convicts is based on the duration of their incarceration starting in February. 2. 3.
A spokesperson for the Legal Services Authority said on Tuesday: “Under the orders of the high-power committee constituted under the chairmanship of Judge Rajan Gupta, the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh and the executive chairman of the Legal Services Authority of the Haryana State, due to COVID-19 pandemics, 2,580 convicts were released. Now a meeting of the high power committee on the readmission permit of convicts was held in Narnaul. Prison authorities and health officials have been ordered to coordinate with each other to follow all protocols during the entry of prisoners to jails.
At the meeting, it was stated that probation / bail was being granted / extended to the convicted / in process after taking due consideration of the COVID-19 situation to avoid the risk of contagion within prisons.
In view of the current situation, the committee has decided to initiate the readmission of convicts released on parole under the recommendations of the high-power committee in nine phases. At the meeting, it was decided that inmates who were released on probation / leave from February 1, 2021 onwards, must surrender upon the expiration of the period of probation / leave granted by the competent authorities.
“To avoid the risk of contagion within prisons during the Covid-19 pandemic, the meeting of prisoners with their families was suspended. Now, the High Level Committee has allowed prisoners to resume meetings with their families from Monday to Friday in a week. Prisoners will now be able to meet with family members from the subtests twice a month, while prisoners will be able to meet once a month. Subtests will be allowed to meet with their family members twice a month, while convicts will be allowed to meet once a month. Jail officials have been ordered to take all precautionary measures to avoid infection, i.e. wearing face masks, hand disinfection, social distancing, etc. during the visit. In addition, the committee has allowed the prison authorities to carry out transfers of prisoners from one prison to another only for security reasons or for COVID-19 issues, ”the spokesperson added.
It was also said at the meeting that the release of convicts / offenders on probation / on bail had resulted in the decongestion of prisons, allowing prison authorities to handle the COVID pandemic situation efficiently. No major cases of infection were reported in Haryana prisons due to the health protocol suggested and implemented under the orders of the high-power committee.
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