On the orders of the High Powered Committee, the convicts who were released due to the situation of Covid -19 pandemic, will now be readmitted to the respective jails.
The jail authorities have been directed to ensure re-admission of the convicts according to the criteria set by the High Powered Committee and also to ensure that the readmission of the convicts is based on the duration of their imprisonment from February 23.
A spokesman of Legal Services Authority on Tuesday said that under the orders of the High Powered Committee constituted under the chairmanship of Justice Rajan Gupta, Judge, Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh and Executive Chairman, Haryana State Legal Services Authority due to COVID-19 pandemic 2580 convicts were released. Now a meeting of the High Powered Committee regarding the permission of readmission of convicts was held in Narnaul.
He informed that the jail authorities and health officials have been directed to coordinate with each other to follow all the protocols during the entry of convicts into jails. It was informed in the meeting that the parole/bail was being granted/extended to the convicts/under trials after duly taking into consideration the COVID-19 situation in order to avoid risk of infection inside the jails. In view of the current prevailing situation, the Committee has decided to start re-admission of convicts released on parole under the recommendations of the High Powered Committee in nine phases. In the meeting, it has further been decided that the prisoners who were released on parole/furlough from February 01, 2021 onwards, shall surrender on expiry of the period of parole/furlough granted to them by the competent authorities.
The spokesman said that to avoid risk of infection inside the jails during the Covid-19 pandemic, meeting of prisoners with their family members was suspended. Now, the High Powered Committee has permitted re-start of meeting of prisoners with their family members from Monday to Friday in a week. Now the prisoners will be able to meet the undertrials with their family members twice a month, while the convicts will be allowed to meet once a month.
It was also informed in the meeting that release of convicts/under trials on parole/bail had resulted in decongestion of jails allowing jail authorities to manage COVID pandemic situations in an efficient manner. No major cases of infection were reported in Haryana jails due to health protocol suggested and implemented under the orders of the High Powered Committee.
Among those present in the meeting were Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department Rajeev Arora, Director General of Prisons, K Selvaraj and District and Sessions Judge, Member Secretary, Haryana State. Legal Services Authority Parmod Goyal.