In view of the current coronavirus crisis, the Delhi High Court on Saturday extended the interim bail of 2,177 Under Trial Prisoners (UTP) by another 45 days. This extension period will begin from the expiry of their interim bail period.
"The interim bails for a period of 45 days granted to 2177 UTPs are hereby extended by another period of 45 days from the date of their respective expiry of interim bails on the same terms and conditions," the order stated.
It further said, "Director General (Prisons) shall ensure that this order is conveyed to all the 2177 UTPs by telephone, as well as, through all other available modes. Ld. Member Secretary, DSLSA shall coordinate with DG (Prisons) in this."
A high power committee headed by Justice Hima Kohli had recommended the extension of the interim bails of the under trial prisoners.
The order was passed by a Division Bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Talwant Singh.
The court observed that a "High Power Committee was constituted by it to decongest the jails to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and as per the recommendations of this Committee, 2177 Under Trial Prisoners (UTPs) were released on interim bail for a period of 45 days from the date of their respective release. The Committee noted that the said period of 45 days in respect of some UTPs is going to expire on 09.05.2020 and for others it shall expire in coming days of May, 2020 and in the first week of June, 2020 but situation of the pandemic is still the same."
The court further said, "Central Government has already extended the Lock Down to 17.05.2020 and it may not be possible to predict definite date for resumption of normal functioning of Court system, so HPC was of the opinion that the interim bail so granted to 2177 UTPs by respective CMMs/MMs needs to be extended for a further period of 45 days."
