4 years ago
The Supreme Court has ordered the release of prisoners at high risk of coronavirus infection. For that, an order has been issued to provide the facility of amnesty.
The Supreme Court has directed the government to take a decision to save the lives of the prisoners in the epidemic. In which the imprisonment of a prisoner can be waived for some crimes.
The order states, "Prior to the enactment of the present law, an order has been issued in the name of the Department of Prison Management and the Ministry of Home Affairs to provide amnesty to former convicts for offenses not on the negative list before the implementation of current law."
The Supreme Court had ruled on Shrawan 19 in a writ filed by Gopal Siwakoti and others lodged in the Central Jail.
The full text of the verdict passed by the bench of Justices Sapna Pradhan Malla and Prakash Kumar Dhungana was made public on Thursday.
Similarly, according to the order, in order to save the lives of high-risk inmates, the government should immediately reduce the overcrowding, give priority to vulnerable children, pregnant women, breastfeeding women and inmates with complex health problems.
The order states that such high-risk prisoners should be identified and appropriate decisions should be taken by comparing the nature of the crime and its impact on the society.
The order said, "After carefully identifying their condition and balancing their health risks with the nature of the offense and public safety, using Article 2 of the Infectious Diseases Act, 2020, to immediately release them."
A directive has also been issued to reduce or commute the sentence or take any other appropriate special decision. The health condition of the inmates is at risk due to the burden of disease, poor health, stress, poor nutrition and lack of sanitation.
The Supreme Court has ruled that senior citizens are in a more risky situation. The order states that maintaining a safe distance from each other in the prison is almost uncertain, increasing the risk not only to the inmates but also to the staff and security personnel working there.
Stating that the state also has a responsibility to provide a safe and healthy living environment inside the prison, the court has estimated that if a person is infected with corona in the prison, it is likely to spread like wildfire and cause death to the inmates.
It has also issued an order in the name of the government to increase the capacity of isolation beds and quarantine for the time being, to allocate budget for treatment of Covid patients in a separate special hospital and to adopt other safety measures.
The writ petitioner had made the Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Prison Management and others as opponents.
In the writ, it was mentioned that even though the jails are at high risk of corona infection due to overcrowding, the concerned agencies have not done enough to reduce the risk or prevent the infection.
The petitioner had said that the congestion should be reduced and the pressure should be managed by using the legal provision that can reduce the sentence of 60 to 75 percent of the prisoners in different cases.
Similarly, a pardon was demanded for the prisoners who could not pay the fine even if they were imprisoned as per the law. The writ petition sought an order to release the detainee on bail on a date or in person.
At present, Nepal's prisons have the capacity to hold 18,000 inmates, but there are 24,163 inmates. There are 659 children in the 495 capacity children's home.
So far, 219 prisoners and 348 children have been released from juvenile detention centers as per the Supreme Court's post-epidemic order. Corona infection has been on the rise in prisons lately.
