Indian prisons with their crowded spaces and inadequate healthcare facilities are at high risk of becoming epicentres for the spread of COVID-19. The Supreme Court of India in its order dated 23-03-20 directed measures to all states and UTs for reducing overcrowding in prisons. This order was passed in the light of the spread of the COVID 19 Pandemic, which has 9,884,716 cases in India as on 14-12-2020. The court directed states/ UTs to constitute a High Powered Committee to determine the categories of prisoners to be released on interim bail/ parole or furlough to reduce overcrowding in prisons.
The Court suggested the following categories for consideration of release.
1. Prisoners who are convicted/undertrial for one offence for which the sentence is upto seven years.
2. Any categories identified by the High Powered Committee on the basis of the nature of offence, duration of the sentence and severity of the offence.
CHRI has been tracking orders issued by the HPCs across states, categories of prisoners identified for release and the estimated vs actual number of releases across the country. On May 27, 2020 we also started tracking the number of positive cases in Indian Prisons.
We continued to update the both tables given below every week until 14-12-2020, post which this exercise was bought to a halt given a lack of reporting. The data updated until 14-12-2020 is as below:
Table A: Number of COVID-19 cases detected inside Indian Prisons^
Name of State |
Number of COVID-19 cases in prisons (Inmates and staff) |
Deaths |
Andhra Pradesh |
||
Assam |
|
|
Bihar |
||
Chhattisgarh |
|
|
Delhi |
||
Goa |
|
|
Gujarat |
|
|
Haryana |
|
|
Jammu and Kashmir |
|
|
Jharkhand |
|
|
Karnataka |
|
|
Kerala |
||
Madhya Pradesh |
|
|
Maharashtra |
||
Odisha |
|
|
Punjab |
|
|
Puducherry |
|
|
Rajasthan |
|
|
Tamil Nadu |
|
|
Tripura |
|
|
Uttar Pradesh |
||
Uttarakhand |
|
|
West Bengal |
|
|
Total |
18157 |
17 |
^Note: The numbers depicted are from media reports. The number represents COVID-19 positive cases of both prison staff and inmates inside prisons.
Table B: Number of Prisoners Released*
Name of State |
Total No. of Prisons and Prison Population* |
Occupancy Rate* |
Categories of prisoners identified for release by the High Powered Committee |
Release and Change in Occupancy Rate |
||
Estimates for release of prisoners reported |
Actual number of prisoners released |
Change in Occupancy Rate (E= Estimate) (A= Actual) |
||||
Andhra Pradesh |
7579 prisoners in 112 prisons |
86.2% |
Prisoners who are under trial or convicted of offences for which the punishment is not more than 7 years, except (Read More):
|
15.4% (E) 5.3% (A) |
||
Arunachal Pradesh |
247 prisoners in 1 prison |
106.0% |
In compliance with the order of the Supreme Court dated 23-03-2020. (Read More) The categories to be determined on:
|
No Information (N.I) |
19.7% (A) |
|
Assam |
9226 prisoners in 31 prisons |
103.8% |
In compliance with the order of the Supreme Court dated 23-03-2020. (Read More) |
33.2% (E) |
||
Bihar |
39814 prisoners in 58 prisons |
94.3% |
In compliance with the order of the Supreme Court dated 23-03-2020. (Read More) |
1% (A) |
||
Chattisgarh |
18112 prisoners in 28 prisons |
150.1% |
|
28.4% |
||
Goa |
518 prisoners in 3 prison |
83 % |
|
7.1%(E) 7.4% (A) |
||
Gujarat |
15089 prisoners in 27 prisons |
109.6% |
N.I |
N.I |
18.8% (E) |
|
Haryana |
20423 prisoners in 19 prisons |
105.8 % |
|
16.2% (E) 26.7% (A) |
||
Himachal Pradesh |
2373 prisoners in 14 prisons |
110.6 % |
N.I |
N.I |
4.2% (A) |
|
Jharkhand |
18654 prisoners in 28 prisons |
111.1 % |
N.I |
N.I |
5.4% (A) |
|
Karnataka |
14515 prisoners in 102 prisons |
101.4 % |
Prisoners serving sentences for offences punishable upto seven years or less. Also prisoners who have not been awarded the maximum punishment for the offences convicted for. Except those imprisoned for:
|
10.1% (E) 8.1% (A) |
||
Kerala |
7499 prisoners in 54 prisons |
109.6 % |
All prisoners (Remand and Undertrials) accused in only one offence punishable upto seven years, except:
|
14.7% (E) 26.9% (A) |
||
Madhya Pradesh |
44603 prisoners in 123 prisons |
155.3 % |
Undertrials who have been accused of a crime punishable for a period of five years. (Read More) |
42% (E) 23% (A) |
||
Maharashtra |
36798 prisoners in 150 prisons |
152.7 % |
N.I |
50% (E) 43.9% (A) |
||
Manipur |
876 prisoners in 5 prisons |
68.9 % |
N.I |
N.I |
14.2% (A) |
|
Meghalaya |
1023 prisoners in 4 prisons |
157.4 % |
N.I |
26.8% (E) 14.5% (A) |
||
Mizoram |
1698 prisoners in 7 prisons |
106.1 % |
N.I |
21.1% (E) 17.9% (A) |
||
Nagaland |
446 prisoners in 11 prisons |
30.8 % |
N.I |
N.I |
5% (A) |
|
Odisha |
17563 prisoners in 91 prisons |
91 % |
All convicts in prisons who:
|
9.0% (E) 5.0% (A) |
||
Punjab |
24174 prisoners in 26 prisons |
102.9% |
N.I |
25.5% (E) 30.6% (A) |
||
Rajasthan |
21599 prisoners in 119 prisons |
94.1 % |
N.I |
N.I |
26.3 % (A) |
|
Sikkim |
400 prisoners in 2 prisons |
153.8 % |
N.I |
N.I |
N.I |
N.I |
Tamil Nadu |
14707 prisoners in 136 prisons |
62.9 % |
N.I |
20.1% (A) 26.33% (E)
|
||
Telangana |
6717 prisoners in 46 prisons |
86.3 % |
N.I |
N.I |
N.I |
N.I |
Tripura |
1103 prisoners in 13 prisons |
50.7 % |
N.I |
25.6% (E) 1.3% (A) |
||
Uttar Pradesh |
101279 prisoners in 67 prisons |
167.9 % |
N.I |
18.7% (E) 20.5% (A) |
||
Uttarakhand |
5629 in 11 prisons |
159.0% |
N.I |
24.2% (E) 18.8% (A) |
||
West Bengal |
23092 prisoners in 58 prisons |
106.1% |
All prisoners convicted of a sentence of upto 7 years, irrespective of the maximum sentence prescribed in the offence, except:
|
14.1% (E) 10.1% (A) |
||
Union Territories |
||||||
Andaman and Nicobar Islands |
244 prisoners in 5 prisons |
79% |
|
N.I |
N.I |
N.I |
Dadra and Nagar Haveli |
46 prisoners in 1 prison |
65.7% |
|
0 |
2.56% (A) |
|
Daman and Diu |
62 prisoners in 2 prison |
103.3% |
|
0 |
0 |
|
Delhi |
17534 prisoners in 10 prisons |
174.9% |
On personal bond, undertrial prisoners and convicts who have been accused/convicted in offences punishable below 7 years. |
29.9 % (E) 35.6% (A) |
||
Chandigarh |
984 prisoners in 1 prison |
87.9% |
|
N.I |
48.7% (A) |
|
Jammu and Kashmir |
3689 prisoners in 14 prisons |
126.8% |
All prisoners who are convicted in one offence and have already served a term of 10 years (8 years for women), except:
|
N.I |
8.8 % (A) |
|
Ladakh |
N.I |
N.I |
|
N.I |
N.I |
N.I |
Lakshwadeep |
4 prisoner in 4 prisons |
6.3% |
|
N.I |
N.I |
N.I |
Puducherry |
263 prisoners in 4 prisons |
63.2% |
|
0 |
0 |
|
Total |
478600 prisoners |
118.5% |
|
66,661 |
68,264 |
16.8% (E) 17.2% (A) |
*The prison capacities, population and occupancy rate are as depicted in Prison Statistics India 2019. Though ideally the latest occupancy would be calculated, this data is not uniformly available in the public domain.
Note: The data depicted in the above table has been collated from information available in media reports, most of which have been hyperlinked for reference. The base numbers for prison population, occupancy rate etc. have been adopted from Prison Statistics India, 2019, and hence might not depict present occupancy. Similarly, the prison occupancy depicted here does not take into account the real time daily new admissions in prisons. However, in case of any discrepancy in the numbers, we would request you to kindly reach out to us regarding the same at chriprisonsprog@gmail.com. We will update the table upon receiving any corrections.