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2021 Supreme(SC) 278

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
L. NAGESWARA RAO, ANIRUDDHA BOSE, JJ.
IN RE : CONTAGION OF COVID 19 VIRUS IN PRISONS - Petitioner(s)
IA No. 63600, 63602 & 63598 of 2021
Decided On : 01-06-2021

Advocates Appeared:
By Courts Motion, AOR Mr. Dushyant Dave, Sr. Adv. (A.C.) Ms. Srishti Agnihotri, Adv. Mr. Talha Abdul Rahmad, Adv. Mr. Venkat Reddy, Adv. Mr. Prashant Tyagi, Adv Mr. P.Srinivas Reddy, Adv M/S.Venkat Palwai Law Associates, AOR
For the UOI : Mr. K K Venugopal, Ld AG Mr. Tushar Mehta, Ld SG Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, Ld ASG. Mr. Kanu Agarwal, Adv. Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, Adv. Mr. Rajat Nair, Adv. Mr. Raj Bahadur Yadav, AOR
H.C. of Manipur : Mr. Sharan Thakur, Adv. Mr. Mahesh Thakur, AOR Mr. Siddhartha Thakur, Adv.
State. of Meghalaya : Mr. Amit Kumar,Sr. Adv. Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AoR Ms. Rekha Bakshi, Adv. Ms. Shaurya Sahay, Adv. Mr. Colin Gonsalves, Sr. Adv. Mr. Ajay Verma, Adv. Ms. Ritu Kumar, Adv. Ms. Harini Raghupathy, Adv. Ms. Ankita Wilson, Adv.
State of Tripura/Assam : Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR
State of Odisha : Mr. Shibashish Misra, AOR
H.C. of Kerala : Mr. P. S. Sudheer, AOR Ms. Shruti Jose, Adv
State of U.P. Ms. Garima Prashad, Sr. Adv/AAG Mr. Vishnu Shankar Jain,AOR
State of Mizoram Mr. Siddhesh Kotwal, Adv. Ms. Ana Upadhyay,Adv. Ms. Manya Hasija, Adv. Mr. Nirnimesh Dube, AOR
St. of Chhatisgarh Mr. S. C. Verma, Adv.Genl. Mr. Sumeer Sodhi, AOR Mr. Manoj Kumar Singh, Adv Ms. Simran Agarwal, Adv
Sikkim High Court Mr. Avneesh Arputham , AOR Ms. Anuradha Arputham, Adv for M/s Arputham Aruna and Co.
High Court of J&K Mr. Anupam Raina AOR Mr. Sunando Raha Adv
State of T.N. Dr. Joseph Aristotle S., AoR. Mr. D. Kumanan, AoR.
State of Haryana Ms. Bansuri Swaraj, Adv.
State of Arunachal Pradesh Mr. Abhimanyu Tewari, AOR Ms. Eliza Bar, Adv Mr. Abhimanyu Tewari, AOR
State of Jharkhand Mr. Tapesh Kumar Singh,AOR Mr. Aditya Pratap Singh,
State of Nagaland Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, Adv, Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv, Mr. Apratim Animesh Thakur, Adv, Ms. Prachi Hasija, Adv.
H.C.of Chhattisgarh Mr. Apoorv Kurup, Adv Ms. Nidhi Mittal , Adv
State of Kerala Mr. Jishnu M.L., Adv. Ms. Priyanka Prakash,Adv. Ms. Beena Prakash, Adv. Mr. G. Prakash, AOR
State of Manipur Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, Adv Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Adv. Mr. Karun Sharma, Adv.
State of Goa Mr. Arun R. Pedneker, Adv. Ms. Mukti Chowdhary, AOR
U.T. of A& N Mr. K.V.Jagdishvaran, Adv. Ms. G.Indira,AOR
GNCT of Delhi Mr. Chirag M. Shroff, AOR
State of W.B. Mr. Suhaan Mukerji, Adv. Mr. Vishal Prasad, Adv. Mr. Nikhil Parikshith, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Manchanda, Adv. Mr. Sayandeep Pahari, Adv.
Intervenor Mr. Nirmal Kumar Ambastha, AOR Mr. Manu Sharma, Adv. Mr. Niteen Sinha, Adv. Mr. Anubhav Taneja, Adv. Mr. Abhyuday Sharma, Adv. Mr. T.Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy, Adv Mr. Amitabh Sinha, Adv Mr. K.V.Girish Chowdary, Adv Mr. Shrey Sharma, Adv.
State of A.P. Mr. Mahfooz A. Nazki, AOR Mr. Polanki Gowtham, Adv Mr. Shaik Mohamad Haneef, Adv
State of Sikkim Mr. Raghvendra Kumar, Adv. Mr. Anand Kumar Dubey, Adv Mr. Narendra Kumar, AOR
State of Punjab Ms. Uttara Babbar, AOR Mr. Manan Bansal, Adv Ms. Shweta Mohta, Adv
State of Karnataka Mr. V.N.Raghupathy, AOR
State of Raj. Mr. Milind Kumar, AOR
HC of P&H Mr. Abhimanyu Tewari, AOR Ms. Eliza Bar,Adv.
State of U.P. Ms. Garima Prashad, Sr. Adv/AAG Mr. Vishnu Shankar Jain,AOR
For Impleader Mr. Kanhaiya Singhal, AOR. Ms. Vani Singhal, Adv. Prasanna, Adv. Mr. Chetan Bhardwaj, Adv Ms. Heena Tangri, Adv. Mr. Rishabh Jain, Adv. Mr. Soumya Chakraborty, Sr. Adv. Mr. Sanjai Kumar Pathak, Adv. Mr. Arvind Kumar Tripathi, Adv. Ms. Shashi Pathak, Adv. Mr. R.K. Awasthi, Adv. Mr. Prashant Kumar, Adv Mr. Santosh Kumar - I, AOR Mr. Gaurav Agrawal, AOR Mr. Aniruddha P. Mayee, AOR M/S.PLR Chambers And Co., AOR Mr. V. G. Pragasam, AOR Mr. Satya Mitra, AOR Ms. Astha Sharma, AOR Mr. Nikhil Goel, AOR Mr. Krishnanand Pandeya, AOR Mr. Harmeet Singh Ruprah, AOR Ms. Binu Tamta, AOR Ms. Supriya Juneja, AOR Mr. Arjun Garg, AOR Mr. Sibo Sankar Mishra, AOR Mr. Vinod Sharma, AOR Ms. Aruna Mathur, AOR Mr. B. V. Balaram Das, AOR Mr. Vinay Arora, AOR Mr. S. Thananjayan, AOR Mr. G. N. Reddy, AOR Mr. Shibashish Misra, AOR Mr. M. Shoeb Alam, AOR M/S.Parekh & Co., AOR Applicant-in-person, AOR Ms. Sneha Kalita, AOR Mr. Talha Abdul Rahman, AOR Mr. M. Yogesh Kanna, AOR Ms. Radhika Gautam, AOR Mr. Sachin Patil, AOR Mr. Prasanna S., AOR

IMPORTANT POINT
Corona Pandemic – Non-consideration of pre-mature release of prisoners by Apex Court in its order dated 07.05.2021 shall not deter competent authorities to consider pre-mature release of prisoners in accordance with law.

Headnote:
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 – Sections 432 and 433-A – Corona Pandemic – Contagion of Covid-19 Virus in prisons – According to applicant, pre-mature release of prisoners in exercise of power conferred under Section 432 Cr.P.C. would assist decongestion of over-crowded jails – Order dated 07.05.2021 passed by Apex Court pertains to parole and interim bail – Applicant has highlighted disparities in decisions taken by High Powered Committees of various States – According to applicant, High Powered Committee of Himachal Pradesh has directed that cases of prisoners for premature release can be considered, whereas High Powered Committees of other States are not considering issue of pre-mature release of prisoners – Non-consideration of pre-mature release of prisoners by this Court in its order dated 07.05.2021 shall not deter competent authorities to consider pre-mature release of prisoners in accordance with law – State Governments/Union Territories directed to file affidavit within a period of four weeks furnishing information about number of prisoners released pursuant to Order dated 07.05.2021 – State Governments/Union Territories shall also provide information relating to number of deaths in prisons due to Covid-19. (Paras 2 to 5)
Facts of the case:
Instant Interlocutory Application is filed for a direction to the High Powered Committee to issue a direction to all the prison authorities and Remission Boards to consider the release of prisoners who are eligible for remission in terms of Sections 432 and 433-A of Cr.P.C.
Findings of Court:
Registry is directed to furnish all papers that are filed in this case to Amicus Curiae. Counsel appearing for the parties are also directed to provide copies of all I.A.s and connected documents to Amicus Curiae before the next date of hearing.
Result : Directions issued. Matter Listed for further consideration in last week of July, 2021.

ORDER

I.A.No. 63598/2021:

Application for intervention is allowed.

I.A.No. 63602 of 2021:

2. This Interlocutory Application is filed for a direction to the High Powered Committee to issue a direction to all the prison authorities and Remission Boards to consider the release of prisoners who are eligible for remission in terms of Sections 432 and 433 A of Cr.P.C.

3. We have heard Mr.Dushyant Dave, learned Amicus Curiae and Mr.Shoeb Alam, learned counsel appearing for the applicant. The learned Amicus Curiae submitted that the State Governments and Union Territories should be directed to file affidavits giving particulars of the prisoners who have been released on parole/interim bail on the basis of the recommendations of the High Powered Committee. The State Governments/Union Territories are directed to file an affidavit within a period of four weeks furnishing information about the number of prisoners released pursuant to the order dated 07.05.2021. The State Governments/Union Territories shall also provide information relating to the number of deaths in prisons due to Covid-19.

4. According to the applicant, pre-mature release of prisoners in exercise of the power conferred under Section 432 Cr.PC would assist decongestion of the over-crowded jails. The order dated 07.05.2021 passed by this Court pertains to parole and interim bail. The applicant has highlighted the disparities in the decisions taken by the High Powered Committees of various States. According to the applicant, the High Powered Committee of Himachal Pradesh has directed that cases of prisoners for premature release can be considered, whereas the High Powered Committees of other States are not considering the issue of pre-mature release of the prisoners.

5. The non-consideration of the pre-mature release of prisoners by this Court in its order dated 07.05.2021 shall not deter the competent authorities to consider the pre-mature release of the prisoners in accordance with law.

6. The Registry is directed to furnish all papers that are filed in this case to the learned Amicus Curiae. The learned counsel appearing for the parties are also directed to provide copies of all I.A.s and connected documents to the learned Amicus Curiae before the next date of hearing.

7. List the matter in the last week of July, 2021.

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2021 Supreme(SC) 278

SUPREME COURT OF INDIAL. NAGESWARA RAO, ANIRUDDHA BOSE, JJ.IN RE : CONTAGION OF COVID 19 VIRUS IN PRISONS - Petitioner(s)IA No. 63600, 63602 & 63598 of 2021Decided On : 01-06-2021

IMPORTANT POINTCorona Pandemic – Non-consideration of pre-mature release of prisoners by Apex Court in its order dated 07.05.2021 shall not deter competent authorities to consider pre-mature release of prisoners in accordance with law.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
L. NAGESWARA RAO, ANIRUDDHA BOSE, JJ.
IN RE : CONTAGION OF COVID 19 VIRUS IN PRISONS - Petitioner(s)
IA No. 63600, 63602 & 63598 of 2021
Decided On : 01-06-2021

IMPORTANT POINT
Corona Pandemic – Non-consideration of pre-mature release of prisoners by Apex Court in its order dated 07.05.2021 shall not deter competent authorities to consider pre-mature release of prisoners in accordance with law.