ARNEWS & ARLYRICS

Considering the improved Covid-19 situation in Delhi, the High Powered Committee (HPC) has said there are no further grounds for recommending further extension of interim bail of undertrials who are currently out of prisons on account of the pandemic.

The Committee headed by a High Court judge was constituted last year on orders of the Supreme Court for decongesting the jails to curb the spread of coronavirus inside the prisons.

A total of 3,499 undertrial prisoners are on interim bail in pursuance of the orders passed by the HPC. The prisoners have been out of the prisons since March 2020 and will now have to surrender on expiry of their interim dates.

“Members of the Committee are of the opinion that this arrangement was made on a temporary basis and was never meant to supplement the otherwise recognised ‘principles of grant/refusal’ of bail. Further, these measures were taken when, owing to the lockdown and prevailing circumstances, there was restricted functioning of the courts. The situation however has changed considerably now, therefore, this temporary measures cannot be extended till perpetuity,” the minutes of the meeting held on February 17 read.

The HPC has also said emergency parole of the convicts need not be recommended for extension to the government. A total of 1,184 convicts are also out on emergency parole.