Supreme Court Relief For Prisoners Released Amid Second Wave Of Covid

The top court also asked the National Legal Services Authority to file a report after getting details from the state high-powered committees about the rules followed by them in implementing the May 7 order.

The Supreme Court Friday ordered that prisoners, who were released by the high-powered committees (HPCs) of states during the second wave of coronavirus following its May 7 directions, will not be asked to surrender until further orders. The top court also directed the state governments and their HPCs to file within five days the guidelines being adopted by them to implement the order on the release of prisoners for decongesting jails during the second wave of the pandemic. A three-judge special bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana gave examples of Haryana and Tripura HPCs saying they have been considering aspects such as old age and co-morbidities of prisoners, besides other grounds, for releasing them. The top court also asked the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) to file a report after getting details from the state HPCs about the rules followed by them in implementing the May 7 order.