Supreme Court orders Delhi prisoner’s surrender within 15 days, released on parole/ interim bail during COVID-19

On 24 March 2023, the Supreme Court of India allowed the appeal filed by the Director General (Prisons) seeking appropriate directions to surrender prisoners/inmates, released on Emergency Parole or interim bail during Covid-19. During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati (on behalf of the applicant) submitted that such an order was passed by the top Court on March 23, 2020, to prevent the spread of COVID-19 virus among prisoners in over-crowded prisons. In this context, the bench comprising Justices C.T. Ravikumar and M.R. Shah stated that “all those under trials/ convicts who have been released on Emergency Parole/ Interim Bail pursuant to the recommendation of the High-Powered Committee, in compliance of the orders dated 23.03.2020, 07.05.2021, and 16.07.2021 passed by this Court in Suo Muto Writ Petition, have to surrender before the concerned prison authorities within 15 days.”

While delivering the judgment the bench also directed that “It is not in dispute and cannot be disputed that all those undertrial prisoners/ convicts were released on interim bail/ emergency parole taking into consideration the overcrowding in the prisons and to prevent the spread of COVID-19 virus among prisoners in over-crowded prisons. All those undertrial prisoners/ convicts, therefore, were not released on merits but were released on the aforesaid ground alone. Therefore, now when the COVID-19 situation has now been normalized, all have to surrender before the concerned prison authorities.” The top Court also clarified that after the surrender of the concerned prisoners, undertrials to pray for bail or suspension of their sentence can be considered in accordance with the law. 

ASG, during the hearing, contended that “out of total 751 convicts who were released on emergency parole, 71 convicts have surrendered voluntarily till date; similarly out of 3630 undertrial prisoners who were released on interim bail on the basis of criteria laid down by High-Powered Committee, 267 undertrials have surrendered in Jail with the order of Court.” She further added that still 680 and 3365 convicts on emergency parole and undertrials on interim bail respectively were pending. In 2020 and 2021, various orders were passed by the top Court bench in association with the first and second waves of the pandemic. The Principal Secretary, Director General of the Prison, and Chairman of the State Legal Services Committee were directed by the Supreme Court bench to identify the classes of prisoners who can be granted emergency parole.