Prisoners arrested on petty cases let out on interim bail in TN to prevent COVID-19

Tamil Nadu on Tuesday had 18 reported COVID-19 patients, including one who recovered, and on Wednesday morning it reported its first COVID-19 death. Amid the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the state judiciary and police department together have made the decision to decongest prisons by releasing prisoners who’ve been arrested in petty cases. 

Times of India reports that across the state, 1,180 prisoners from nine central prisons for men, five special prisons for women, district jails and sub-jails have been released as a precautionary measure to mitigate the spreading of novel coronavirus. These include prisons in Puzhal, Madurai, Palayamkottai, Vellore, Cuddalore, Trichy, and Salem.

On Tuesday, 67 prisoners from various prisons in Salem, including Salem Central Prison, and sub-jails in the district were released on interim bail. They have been asked to appear at their respective courts on April 9 at 11.00 am. On Monday, 156 prisoners were released on bail from the Coimbatore Central Prison based on court orders. Earlier on Saturday, 58 from Madurai Central Prison were released.

Prison departments too have tightened their precautionary measures. The Hindu reports that the central prison in Trichy is regularly disinfecting its premises, has installed hand washing facilities and will be procuring face masks for its officials first.

According to another report in The Hindu, a public interest litigation petition has been filed at the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court. Petitioner P Thangaraj, coordinator of Prisoners Reform Intervention Support Mission (PRISM) suggested that trials could be held via videoconferencing.

Thangaraj has requested that petty offenders could be let out on bail to ease the situation and to avoid overcrowding. He also said that prisons should have isolation wards in place and new entrants must be quarantined for 14 days. As on Wednesday, Tamil Nadu has reported 18 COVID-19 positive cases.