Overcrowded jails cause for worry: CJI SA Bobde

The Chief Justice of India on Monday expressed worry over the fate of nearly 5 lakh prisoners in India’s overcrowded jails in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Social distancing in such places is difficult, Justice SA Bobde said, even as he sought an action plan from prison authorities throughout the country to deal with the situation.

Among the suggestions made by the CJI were to set up isolation cells for any prisoner found Covid-19 positive, as Kerala has done, and setting up of facilities for the treatment of such patients.

Countries such as Iran and the US are releasing low-risk prisoners to prevent the contagion from spreading in their jails. India’s top court stopped short of suggesting anything of that sort, and instead focussed its attention on mandatory screening of all jail inmates, prompt quarantine and treatment if anyone is found infected.