THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The High-powered Committee has decided to grant interim bail to selected remand prisoners and parole to the eligible convicted prisoners in a bid to de-congest the jails in the wake of COVID spread.
The panel took the decision following the Supreme Court's recent verdict in this regard. Prisoners who were released last year during the first wave of the pandemic will be eligible for 90-day parole.
Remand prisoners who do not have criminal antecedents, booked under one case and charged under sections that could invite a sentence of less than seven years will be eligible for interim bail on their own surety.
The decision will benefit 1,500 convicted prisoners and 350 remand prisoners. Already, 568 convicted prisoners are out on parole following the government's May 5 order. They too will benefit from the decision.