BHUBANESWAR: In a bid to avoid the over congestion of jails amid the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, a high power committee of the Odisha government has granted 30 days extra special parole to 747 convicts in the State.
The convicts were earlier released temporarily on special parole of 90 days as per the order of the Supreme Court.
A meeting of the committee under the chairmanship of Orissa High Court judge Justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra, who is the Executive Chairperson of Odisha State Legal Services Authority, was held recently in connection with the decongestion of jails in view of the spread of coronavirus.
The committee issued an order to extend the special parole of the convicts on Friday.
"Whether the leave period of the convicts should be further extended will be decided during the next meeting in August third week," Director General of Prisons Santosh Kumar Upadhyay told The New Indian Express on Saturday.
The Supreme Court had earlier observed that some prisons in the country are overburdened and had expressed concern regarding the health of the inmates during the pandemic.
"India has more than four lakh prison inmates. It is observed that some of the prisons in India are overburdened and are housing inmates beyond optimal capacity. The requirement of decongestion is a matter concerning the health and right to life of both the prison inmates and the police personnel working,” the bench led by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao and Surya Kant had said in May.
Other members of the committee, Additional Chief Secretary of Home Department Sanjeev Chopra was present in the meeting.