Inmates Granted Parole Pursuant To Supreme Court's Order To Be Again Granted Parole: Directs Uttarakhand & Haryana High Powered Committee

It is important to note that the Supreme Court last week directed the High­ Powered Committee of the States to forthwith release all the inmates who had been released earlier pursuant to the Supreme Court's order dated 23^rd March 2020, by imposing appropriate conditions (in addition to considering fresh release).

Uttarakhand HPC

In compliance of the order dated 23^rd March 2020 passed by the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice, High Court of Uttarakhand/Patron-in-Chief, Uttarakhand State Legal Services Authority had constituted a High Powered Committee comprising of the following, namely:-

• Hon'ble Executive Chairman of State Legal Services Authority as Chairman;
• The Principal Secretary (Home/Prison) as Member; and
• Director-General of Prison as Member.

This High-Powered Committee was in existence at present for determining the class of prisoners who can be released on parole or on interim bail for such period as may be thought appropriate.

Further, pursuant to the Supreme Court of India's May 7, 2021 order, in which certain directions for the High-Powered Committee were issued, the Committee issued the following recommendations/directions:

• Secretary, Department of Home, Government of Uttarakhand, Inspector General (Prisons), Government of Uttarakhand, Dehradun, all the Chairpersons, DLSAs/District Judges, District Courts of Uttarakhand are hereby directed that, those inmates who were granted parole, pursuant to the earlier orders of Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, should be again granted parole for a period of 90 days in order to tide over the pandemic; by adopting the guidelines (such as inter alia, SOP laid down by NALSA) followed by them last year, at the earliest.
• The District Magistrates and Senior Superintendents of Police/Superintendents of Police are requested to make necessary arrangements for the transmission of such prisoners on their release from jails to their respective places by following the policies and guidelines of the Government regarding curfews and lockdown in some Cities and States.
• The Chief Medical Officer of the concerned District shall be asked to conduct proper health check-ups of such prisoners/under-trials before their release on parole or interim bail.
• The Chief Medical Officer of the concerned District is also requested to make necessary arrangements regarding the medical examination (COVID-19 Examination) of such prisoners/under-trials before they are transmitted from the jail to their respective places.
• All the District Legal Services Authorities are directed to send a consolidated progress report to this Authority regarding the prisoners/under-trials, who are again granted parole for a period of 90 days.
• Moreover, all the decisions of the High-Powered Committee may need to be published on respective State Legal Services Authorities/State Governments/High Courts websites in order to enable effective dissemination of information.

Haryana HPC