Madras High Court calls for Decongestion of prisons in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry

The Madras High Court on Monday called for decongesting prisons due to a surge in Covid cases by granting leave or interim bail to women prisoners who are accompanied by children aged below six, across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Chief Justice Sanjeeb Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy said, “It is imperative that such category of inmates at correctional homes be also allowed to return home or be granted parole or interim bail or the like.”The court directed the Executive Chairman of the Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority for expeditious action and said the issue requires immediate action to determine the release of other convicts, too, by July 15. The plea was adjourned to Thursday.