The Madras High Court on Monday “wholeheartedly” endorsed a suggestion made by senior counsel R. Vaigai that women prisoners, accompanied by children aged below six, across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, should be granted leave or interim bail to protect them from COVID-19.
Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy requested the Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority (TNSLSA) chaired by Justice R. Subbiah to give priority to the issue and take steps to get them released with the approval of a High Powered Committee constituted for the purpose.
The first Division Bench also concurred with Ms. Vaigai, who had been appointed as an amicus curiae in a 2017 public interest litigation petition related to prison reforms, that both the TNSLSA as well as Puducherry Legal Services Authority must attend to maintenance of hygiene and sanitation facilities inside the prisons and ensure that adequate number of medical professionals and sanitation workers were available.
