[COVID-19] Medha Patkar moves Supreme Court seeking uniform policy for release of prisoners above 70 years to decongest prisons

Social activist Medha Patkar has moved Supreme Court seeking directions to State Governments and Union Territories to formulate a uniform mechanism to release prisoners aged 70 years with a view to decongest prisons across India. .The plea relied on report by World Health Organisation (WHO) which declared that COVID-19 causes higher mortality among older persons, particularly in persons with underlying medical conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, diabetes, and cancer. "Imperial College, London COVID-19 Response Team has reported that symptomatic individuals in their seventies are twenty times more likely to require hospitalization than those in their twenties," the plea filed through Advocate Vipin Nair said. .The petition drawn by advocate SB Talekar stated that most of the categorization of prisoners are based on social conditions and on factors of administrative convenience. The High Powered Committees constituted by various States pursuant to Supreme Court order to release prisoners on parole due to COVID-19 have not taken into account the categorization of prisoners on the basis of their susceptibility to the infection and their need to be released on an urgent basis. .Patkar maintained that most susceptible prisoners are the aged/ elderly prisoners, who have a higher chance of getting infected, specifically septuagenarian prisoners, i.e., above 70 years..[BREAKING] Supreme Court orders re-release of all eligible prisoners to prevent COVID-19 spread in prisons.On May 8, 2021, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana led bench of the apex court had directed the high-powered committees constituted by State governments and Union Territories to consider parole of prisoners by adopting the guidelines followed by them last year. This was considering the overcrowding in jails during the time of the second wave of Covid pandemic.A Bench which also comprised Justices L Nageswara Rao and Surya Kant had ordered that prisoners across the country who were released last year due to COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently re-imprisoned after COVID-19 pandemic seemingly reduced, would be eligible for immediate release again in view of the surge in COVID cases..The plea by Patkar said that States such as Maharashtra, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh had taken steps to release old age prisoners pursuant to Supreme Court order. "It can be thus seen from the different approaches of the HPC’s that there is no uniformity in this regard by the HPC’s of different State and also there seems to be no uniform criteria adopted by the States to decongest the prisons where aged/elderly prisons are undergoing their sentence of imprisonment," the petition stated. .Patkar also contended that the chances of law and order situation on account of release of elderly prisoners are less, as the tendency to indulge in repeat offences is less at such an age.