New Delhi: The jail authorities submitted before the Delhi High Court on Tuesday that six prisoners, who are lodged in several jails in the national capital, are currently infected with COVID-19.
The submission was made through a status report before a three-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice DN Patel and Justices Siddharth Mridul and Talwant Singh.
The jail authorities submitted that there are 2,318 prisoners involved in heinous crimes who have been granted interim bail by the High Court and trial courts. The report said another 2,907 prisoners involved in minor crimes have also been granted interim bails.
Senior Standing Counsel (Criminal) Rahul Mehra also informed the High Court that 6,711 inmates are presently out of jail on account of interim bail or parole granted in view of the COVID-19 pandemic and added that while as per the affidavit only six persons were suffering from coronavirus, at present the said number has come down to only three.
The said persons are currently admitted to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital in the national capital. Mehra further submitted before the court that while the total strength of the jails is over 10,000, the total strength of inmates is currently around 16,000.