In the wake of the COVID19 outbreak, the jail authority of Tezpur Central Jail in Assam’s Sonitpur district released 41 jail inmates on Saturday.
The jailer of Tezpur Central Jail, Mrinmoy Dawka, informed that the Supreme Court recently directed to release the excessive inmates of every jail in the country.
“As per the apex court direction, 41 inmates, who were jailed on charges of various crimes, were handed over to Tezpur police today. However, among the 41 inmates, 23 inmates will be kept in isolation under the supervision of the health department and the Tezpur police,” informed Dawka.\
On Monday, the Supreme Court directed all states and Union Territories to constitute their respective high-level panels to determine prisoners who could be released on parole for 4 to 6 weeks to prevent overcrowding in jails to help prevent the spread of COVID19.
A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde and comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao and Surya Kant asked the state governments and UT authorities to release on parole or bail those convicted or charged with offences entailing jail terms of up to 7 years.
The bench said the high-level committee could hold consultations with the State Legal Service Authority to implement the process of releasing the prisoners.
The Supreme Court said: “We, therefore, direct that each state shall constitute a high-level committee comprising home secretary and chairman, State Legal Service Authority, to determine the class of prisoners (to be released).”