The Supreme Court on Friday directed prisoners in Kerala who were released on interim bail or parole in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to report back to jails within two weeks.
A Bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and P.S. Narasimha said near-normalcy had returned in the country.
“Near-normalcy has returned in the country and daily activities remain unabated. The benefit that was granted to the petitioners who continue on parole, due to the possibility of contracting COVID-19, shall continue for a period of two weeks from today [Friday]. The petitioners are directed to report back to the prisons within the same period,” the Bench said.
The Bench said there was no right to stay on parole forever and it had to stop somewhere.
“It is not that you can stay out of jail for the next five years,” it said.
In 2021, taking into account the prevalent situation in Kerala regarding COVID-19, the Kerala government had considered granting bail to even those who were convicted for a period of more than 10 years.
The apex court, in February, asked the State counsel to instruct authorities not to take coercive action against people who are out on bail and parole.
It was hearing a batch of pleas challenging the State’s order asking prisoners to surrender back to jails. One of the petitioners, Dolphy, who was released from the prison on parole, has rushed to the Supreme Court after being asked to report back to jail despite the poor pandemic situation in the State.
Earlier, the apex court had ordered de-congestion of prisons in the wake of the COVID-19 and had directed the States and Union territories to constitute a ‘high powered committee’ to determine which class of prisoners can be released on parole or interim bail.
