The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) has reported on the release of prisoners in response to COVID-19 in India. 

On March 23, 2020, India’s Supreme Court suggested that prisoners convicted of or charged with offences involving jail terms of seven years or less could be considered for parole or interim bail. 

Tihar Jail in Mumbai (India’s largest prison), announced plans on March 23, 2020, to release approximately 3,000 inmates. The same day, the Delhi government told the Delhi High Court that it would amend rules to enable prisoners (held for certain sentences) who had served a year of their sentence and those who had been in pre-trial detention for three months or more to apply for parole. Maharashtra, meanwhile, proposed to similarly release over 5,000 inmates, while making COVID-19 tests mandatory for all new inmates.  

Further information is available here.

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