All prisons in T.N. have been decongested in view of COVID-19, govt tells HC

‘The occupancy rate in prisons was only 58.72% as on June 1’

The Tamil Nadu Prison department on Thursday informed the Madras High Court that prisons across the State had been decongested in view of COVID-19 and that the occupancy rate was only 58.72% as on June 1. The court was told that though the total authorised accommodation in all prisons put together was 23,592 inmates, the present overall occupancy was only 13,854. Appearing before the first Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, Advocate General R. Shunmugasundaram said thousands of prisoners had been released on bail since March 23, 2020. The A-G also submitted a report filed by Director General of Prisons Sunil Kumar Singh listing out the steps that had been taken so far to protect prisoners from the pandemic. The report was filed in response to a suo motu public interest litigation petition that the court had taken up in 2017 with respect to prison reforms. Senior Counsel R. Vaigai, who had been appointed as an amicus curiae in the case, impressed upon the need to vaccinate the prisoners as well as the prison staff on priority basis since they were susceptible to the infection and spread it among others.