Delhi HC to consider on Saturday extension of interim bails to undertrial prisoners amid COVID-19 crisis

Delhi High Court will consider on Saturday a High-Power Committee's recommendation to extend the interim bails granted to 2,177 undertrial prisoners (UTPs) in view of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

Delhi High Court Registrar General, through a press statement, informed that "as per the verbal directions received from the Chief Justice, the matter be placed on May 9, 2020, before a division bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Talwant Singh".

The High Power Committee, constituted to consider granting interim bail, parole and furloughs to inmates in order to decongest the jails during the COVID-19 crisis, had recently recommended extending the interim bails granted to Under Trial Prisoners (UTPs).

The committee, headed by a Delhi High Court judge Justice Hima Kohli, through a press release said that considering the fact that the situation of the pandemic as on date is still the same and taking into account paucity of space in jail premises to create a sufficient number of isolation wards, so as to keep all the prisoners coming back after expiry of their interim bail separate, from other inmates to prevent the spread of COVID- 19, it is recommended that this period of interim bail should be further suitably extended.

Since the committee felt that moving separate applications for each UTP seeking an extension of interim bail before the concerned courts would be cumbersome and would lead to wastage of judicial time, it recommended that the High Court may be requested to extend this period of interim bail for the UTPs falling under the criteria laid down in the previous meetings of this committee, through a judicial order for a further period of at least 45 days from the date their respective period of earlier interim bail is expiring.

It was also been observed by the committee that the said period of interim bail so granted to these UTPs shall start expiring on or after May 9, 2020.

( With inputs from ANI )