State/UT wise Prisons Response to COVID 19 Pandemic in India

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State/UT wise Prisons Response to COVID 19 Pandemic in India

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

1375

1 death

Assam

2496

 

Bihar

96 + 224 + 3

4 deaths

Chhattisgarh

41

 

Delhi

220

1 death + 1 death

Goa

33

 

Gujarat

23 + 64 + 70

 

Haryana

1 + 2 + 36

 

Jammu and Kashmir

96

 

Jharkhand

105 + 183 + 350

 

Karnataka

668

 

Kerala

3 + 3 + 1 + 510

1 death

Madhya Pradesh

154

 

Maharashtra

2752

6 deaths

Odisha

175

 

Punjab

526

 

Puducherry

1

 

Rajasthan

140 + 126

 

Tamil Nadu

5 + 6 + 2 + 47

 

Tripura

5

 

Uttar Pradesh

7000

2 deaths + 1 death

Uttarakhand

85 + 205

 

West Bengal

265

 

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):

  • Prisoners/ Undertrial accused of more than one case.
  • Not accused in case under Section 376 (Rape) or provisions of the POCSO Act.
  • Prisoners/ Undertrials diagnosed with autoimmune diseases

1350

467

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:

  • Nature of offence
  • Duration of sentence
  • Previous criminal record
  • Any other relevant factors

No Information (N.I)

56

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)

3550

722

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)

0

413

1% (A)

Chattisgarh

18112 prisoners in 28 prisons

150.1%
  • Serving or undertrial for a sentence less than 7 years.
  • In prison for more than 3 months and is a resident of Chattisgarh. (Read More)

3418

3418

28.4%

Goa

518 prisoners in 3 prison

83 %
  • undertrials and convicts who are accused or convicted of offences with punishment upto or less than seven years, except people charged under special laws.
  • The undertrial review committee shall undertake the responsibility of release of untertrials on parole.
  • Extend the parole of convicts who are already out on parole suitably. (Read More)

44

46

7.1%(E)

7.4% (A)

Gujarat

15089 prisoners in 27 prisons

109.6%

N.I

2500

N.I

18.8% (E)

Haryana

20423 prisoners in 19 prisons

105.8 %
  • All prisoners above the age of 65, except those involved in multiple crimes, will be granted a 6 week special parole. This would not apply to people booked under special laws such as NDPS, POCSO etc.
  • All prisoners convicted of crimes punishable upto seven years will be considered for parole of 6 weeks, extendable to 8 weeks.
  • Undertrials accused of maximum two offences in which punishment is upto two years will be considered for a 45 day interim bail, extendable upto 60 days. (Read More)

3000

4940

16.2% (E)

26.7% (A)

Himachal Pradesh

2373 prisoners in 14 prisons

110.6 %

N.I

N.I

92

4.2% (A)

Jharkhand

18654 prisoners in 28 prisons

111.1 %

N.I

N.I

869

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:

  • Money Laundering
  • Drug trafficking
  • Terrorism
  • Unlawful activities (Read More)

1379

1112

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:

  • Prisoners having criminal antecedents
  • Habitual Offenders
  • Previous convictions
  • Remand/Undertrials in more than one offence (Read More)

1000

1831

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)

12000

6589

42% (E)

23% (A)

Maharashtra

36798 prisoners in 150 prisons

152.7 %

N.I

17619

10581

50% (E)

43.9% (A)

Manipur

876 prisoners in 5 prisons

68.9 %

N.I

N.I

181

14.2% (A)

Meghalaya

1023 prisoners in 4 prisons

157.4 %

N.I

174

94

26.8% (E)

14.5% (A)

Mizoram

1698 prisoners in 7 prisons

106.1 %

N.I

338

287

21.1% (E)

17.9% (A)

Nagaland

446 prisoners in 11 prisons

30.8 %

N.I

N.I

72

5% (A)

Odisha

17563 prisoners in 91 prisons

91 %

All convicts in prisons who:

  • Are not undertrial in any other cases and are serving a sentence of seven years or less with or without fine. Convicts who have one or more undertrial cases but are on bail on all of them, and have availed at least on parole peacefully.
  • Are 65 years of age or above except those convicted under POCSO, NDPS, Rape, Sexual Offences, Acid Attacks or foreign nationals. (Read More)

1727

955

9.0% (E)

5.0% (A)

Punjab

24174 prisoners in 26 prisons

102.9%

N.I

6000

7177

25.5% (E)

30.6% (A)

Rajasthan

21599 prisoners in 119 prisons

94.1 %

N.I

N.I

5763

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

6000

4573

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

557

28

25.6% (E)

1.3% (A)

Uttar Pradesh

101279 prisoners in 67 prisons

167.9 %

N.I

11000

12055

18.7% (E)

20.5% (A)

Uttarakhand

5629 in 11 prisons

159.0%

N.I

855

667

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:

  • Offences under POCSO, Violence against Women, Rape, Acid attacks etc.
  • Rioting and waging war against state
  • Offences relating to anti-corruption
  • Commercial and economic offences
  • Offences under Gangsters Act
  • Offences under NDPS Act. (Read More)

3076

2209

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

1

2.56% (A)

Daman and Diu

62 prisoners in 2 prison

103.3%

 

0

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.

3000

3573

29.9 % (E)

35.6% (A)

Chandigarh

984 prisoners in 1 prison

87.9%

 

N.I

545

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:

  • Offences of Intermediate of or large quantity recovery under NDPS Act.
  • Offences under POCSO Act.
  • Offences amounting to violence against women including acid attack.
  • Foreign National Prisoners. (Read More)

N.I

235

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

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.