3,418 prisoners released from Chhattisgarh jails: Official

As many as 3,418 prisoners, mostly undertrials, were released from jails in Chhattisgarh till May 11 following the Supreme Court's directives to consider decongesting prisons in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, an official said on Sunday. The process of granting bail and parole started in the last week of March, he said.

"As many as 1,269 prisoners were released on interim bail, 1,844 on regular bail and 305 on parole till May 11 from 33 jails of the state," a public relations department official here said. Besides, 100 prisoners were also released following the completion of their sentences during this period, he said.

The Supreme Court in March directed all states and Union Territories to constitute high-level committees to consider releasing on parole or interim bail prisoners and undertrials for offenses entailing up to seven-year jail term, to decongest prisons in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently, a three-member high-powered committee headed by Chhattisgarh High Court Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, who is also the executive chairman of State Legal Services Authority, was constituted to look into the number of inmates who can be granted bail or parole to decongest jails, the official said.

State Additional Chief Secretary (Home and Prisons) Subrat Sahoo and Additional Director General (Prisons) Ashok Junenja are the other members of the committee.

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