Supreme Court reserves orders on Medha’s plea on bail or parole to undertrials, prisoners

Court indicates it may direct MHPC to examine merits of every individual case for emergency parole or bail of prisoners in overcrowded jails.

The Supreme Court on Monday indicated that it may direct the Maharshtra High-Powered Committee (MHPC) to examine the merits of every individual case for emergency parole or bail of prisoners in overcrowded jails.

Banking on broad restrictions to approve or deny bail or parole may not help when the ground situation regarding the health crisis was fluid, it pointed out.

A Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) S.A. Bobde reserved for orders a plea by activist Medha Patkar, represented by senior advocate S.B. Talekar and advocates P.B. Suresh and Vipin Nair, against the MHPC blanket ban on grant of bail or parole to under-trials and prisoners involved in offences under special laws like the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

Such committees were formed in every State on the basis of an order of the Supreme Court on March 23. Their objective was to examine and recommend the release of prisoners on interim bail or emergency parole considering the seriousness, gravity and length of term of sentence of prisoners. The court had used its extraordinary powers to pass the March 23 order in order to decongest prisons as a preventive step against the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) within their walls and outside.

“MHPC excluded prisoners accused under the Special Acts from availing interim bail on the ground that such Acts required observation of a separate procedure or imposition of additional conditions... However, most Special Acts do not provide for any special procedure or additional conditions for grant of bail”, the petition said.

Ms. Patkar said the personal liberty of the prisoners and under-trials were at stake. Mere reference to some “separate procedure” cannot be a ground for their total exclusion from grant of bail or parole amid a pandemic.

Besides, Ms. Patkar said, the prisoners, once convicted, were governed by the Maharashtra Prisons (Bombay Furlough and Parole) Rules, 1959 framed under the Prisons Act, 1894.

“The Rules provide for emergency parole on the ground of serious illness, death of the nearest relative, or in case of natural calamity such as house collapse, floods, fire, earthquake”, she said.

The petition said that out of 28,642 prisoners to be released, only 10467 had been released so far due to the additional conditions imposed by the MHPC.