'Upgrade Other State Buildings To Meet Prison Requirements': Orissa High Court Seeks Action Plan For Decongestion Of Prisons Amid Covid-19

The remarks were made by a Division Bench of Chief Justice Dr. S. Muralidhar and Justice Savitri Ratho upon being informed that at least six prisons continue to be overcrowded in the state while the second wave of the pandemic causes havoc. It was informed that particularly, the situation in Bhadrak Special Sub-Jail is acute where against the capacity of 166 there are over 430 prisoners.

"In a time of COVID-19 Pandemic, this can also pose a serious risk to the health and safety of the prisoners as well as the jail staff," the Bench remarked at the outset.

It stated that the situation is grave and requires immediate attention. Therefore, a direction is made to the State of Odisha to come up with a detailed "action plan" for dealing with the issue of overcrowding of prisons by June 28.

"The Court is of the view that there is an urgent need to decongest the prisons and to accommodate the prisoners in excess of the holding capacity of the concerned jail to be shifted in a phased manner in other safe and secure premises, which could be by upgrading other state buildings/facilities to meet the requirements of prisons. This aspect also be taken into account while preparing the action plan," it ordered.

On the previous listing, the High Court had ordered various District Magistrates to make a surprise visit to the jails within their jurisdiction and submit a report to the Court on the conditions prevailing therein.

On Monday, upon a perusal of the compliance reports, the Bench noted that District Jail in Phulbani, the Special Sub-Jail in Bhadrak and the Sub-Jails in Jajpur, Nayagarh, Parlakhemundi and Malkangiri are heavily overcrowded and require immediate relief measures.

Case Title: Krushna Prasad Sahoo v. State of Odisha & Ors.

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