Haryana government has restricted bursting of firecrackers to two hours on Diwali while Maharashtra government has discouraged the use of firecrackers throughout the festival season, in keeping with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) guidelines.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar relaxed the firecracker ban in the state while considering the economic loss that could be suffered by traders. Accordingly, district administrations ordered a ban on sale and bursting of crackers in districts that came under the ‘poor’ air quality category in November last year.

The ban will be imposed from November 9, 2020 to November 30, 2020 in Ambala, Fatehabad, Hisar, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Sirsa and Yamunanagar, categorised under the ‘poor’ to ‘severe’ air quality index (AQI) last year. Only Panchkula district was classified with a ‘moderate’ AQI in November 2019.

The order issued due to the coronavirus pandemic, has resulted in a lot of confusion at the local-level because the State Pollution Control Board measures the AQI of district headquarters alone and does not have data regarding the AQI of small towns and villages. As of November 12, Sirsa and Bhiwani districts’ air pollution status has reached ‘Hazardous’ with 431 AQI and 504 AQI respectively.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray asked citizens on November 9 to be responsible for their actions rather than declaring an all-out ban.

On Monday, Thackeray said that the state government will not issue an outright ban considering the previous performance of citizens in adhering to the pandemic guidelines.

“Celebrate Diwali, light lamps, enjoy faraal (delicacies prepared in Maharashtrian homes) but avoid firecrackers,” he said on social media.

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) also refrained from declaring a ban choosing to put its trust in people. However, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) decided to impose a ban in light of the growing number of coronavirus cases in the city. On November 11, Mumbai Mirror reported 1,069 new cases bringing this month’s tally to 2,66,746 cases.

Officials issued a circular that said people could burst ‘mild firecrackers’ like anar or fuljhadi (sparklers) in private premises during Laxmi Pujan celebrated on November 14 this year. The circular also appealed to people to follow COVID-19 protocols.

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Keeping in mind the spike in coronavirus cases in India and the threat of community transmission, state governments are continuing to comply with the Supreme Court order on decongesting prisons in order to reduce the rapid spread of coronavirus there.

Uttarakhand

Madan Kaushik, State Cabinet Minister of the Uttarakhand government said that it had plans to release 855 prisoners on parole for a duration of six months from 11 jails in the state. The 11 jails have a capacity of 3,540 prisoners but currently are overcrowded with around 5,748 inmates found an RTI query. PVK Prasad, IG of Police (Jails) Uttarakhand said that the administration has informed the respective district administrations and police departments to make arrangements “to take the inmates to their homes”, the Hindustan Times reported.

Prasad also informed, “All the jail staff and inmates are maintaining social distance inside the jails. Also, jail premises are being cleaned every six hours to ensure cleanliness with the staffers working with masks and gloves.”

Saying that “so far there has been no infection in jail”, Prasad also said, “We have also set up two quarantine wards, including one in the jail and other in the doctor’s room. If any inmate develops any symptoms of the deadly virus then he or she would be quarantined there only. We are also quarantining any inmate who is coming to jail for 15 days before allowing him to go among the other inmates lodged inside.”

Akola, Maharashtra

As many as 60 prisoners were released on bail from the Akola district jail following a health check-up on Monday, reported The New Indian Express. The jail administration has taken various measures to protect detainees from the pandemic, an official said. Prisoners were given masks, visits from family were suspended and court proceedings were held over video- conferencing, he added.

Madhya Pradesh

The Times of India reported that the Madhya Pradesh government could release an approximate of 12,000 prisoners on parole to decongest jails. Those who were looking to walk free on August 15, could taste freedom early. As opposed to the capacity of 25,000 inmates, the jails in Madhya Pradesh currently house 45,000 prisoners. DG Jails, Sanjay Chaudhary said that under emergency parole rules, the government would provide a 60-day maximum parole to eligible convicts. Men over 65, women over 50 and women who are pregnant or with children in jail would be considered for emergency release.

West Bengal

Over 3,000 undertrials and convicted prisoners have been freed by the West Bengal government said a senior minister on March 31. Correctional Services Minister Ujjal Biswas told IANS, “On Monday, 3,076 inmates from 60 correctional homes were released. Due to the ongoing lockdown in the country, the freed jailbirds are being driven to their respective homes by the correctional home administration by following all norms of hygiene and social distancing.”

Out of the 3,076 prisoners, 2,059 were undertrials who were granted interim bail and 1,017 were convicts who were freed on a three-month parole. Biswas also informed that the prisoners were going to be taken back home in special vehicles.

Agra, Uttar Pradesh

One of the country’s most overburdened prison systems, the Agra district jail released 71 prisoners, including 60 men and 11 women, who faced relatively minor charges like dacoity and theft, The Print reported. The jail administration said they were released on short-term bail for 56 days.

In total, the Uttar Pradesh government plans to release 11,000 prisoners lodged in 71 jails across the state. The committee constituted to work on the SC orders directed under-trials lodged in 71 jails of the state in crimes, whose maximum punishment is of 7 years, be given 8-week interim bail on a personal bond, and immediately freed from the jail, News 18 reported.

According to the UP government, there are around 8,500 under trials and 2,500 convicts in the jails across the state.

Jammu and Kashmir

Kicstarting the process of releasing prisoners to decongest prisons, The Jammu and Kashmir administration revoked the detention of 31 people who were booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) at the Srinagar Central Prison, The Print reported. The 31 inmates were ordered to be released in to batches of 14 and 17 respectively. A senior police officer said, “For now the administration is looking at those individuals booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA). However, there are other prisoners, not necessarily booked under PSA, who would be released as well. This is in compliance with the Supreme Court directions passed last week.”

However, politicians like former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti, Shah Faisal, PDP leader Naeem Akhtar and National Conference General Secretary Ali Sagar continue to remain under detention.

Haryana

The Haryana government released around 1,600 prisoners confined in various jails across the state, reported The Times of India. Haryana IG (Prisons) Jagjit Singh told TOI, “Till Monday, we released around 1,600 prisoners from Haryana jails. It is expected that around 4,000 prisoners would be released from jails within a week, in accordance with the instructions.” On March 25, the state government had announced that convicts already on parole or furlough would be given a four-week extension. Convicts who have already availed parole or furlough before and completed the duration peacefully, would be given a fresh one-time six-week special parole.

All convicts above the age of 65 (except those booked for large recovery of drugs under NDPS Act and POCSO, Section 379-B (snatching), rape or acid attacks) would be granted a six-week parole. No foreign national would be entitled for the same.

Convicts with good behaviour who don’t face a sentence of more than seven years or who don’t have a fine due, would too be considered for release.

Assam

As many as 722 undertrial prisoners have been released from Assam jails in an effort to decongest the jails to fight the Covid-19 outbreak, reported The North East Today.

“A high-level committee has been constituted, which has already arranged for the release of many prisoners, and added that many are yet to be released,” Guwahati Police Commissioner Munna Prasad told the local media.

According to the reports, the Karimganj and Barpeta district jail authorities on Monday had released 30 undertrial prisoners. There are around 8,000 inmates in 31 jails in Assam, including six central jails, 22 district jails, one special jail, one open jail and one sub-jail.

Shillong, Meghalaya

94 undertrial prisoners from Shillong jail and eight children from observation home in Meghalaya, were released on bail on Tuesday following Supreme Court order to decongest prisons in view of COVID-19, a law officer said on Wednesday, reported the Nagaland Post.

Member Secretary of the Meghalaya State Legal Services, NA Khan said that the high-power committee discussed releasing the prisoners on bail, interim bail, and parole also deliberated on the present condition and preparedness of the Prison department to deal with congestion in district jails.  According to prison department statistics, there are 1105 inmates in the five district jails of Shillong, Tura, Williamnagar, Jowai and Nongpoh. 174 prisoners were identified from the Shillong jail, which constituted 37.9 percent of the total population of Shillong jail.

The Shillong jail has a capacity of 170, but housed 459 inmates. Jowai jail had a capacity of 130 inmates, but housed 243 prisoners. Nongpoh District jail which has a capacity of 120 inmates, housed 179.

There are 193 inmates at Tura jail in West Garo Hills district against the capacity of 200 and Williamnagar Jail in East Garo Hills district which have a capacity to accommodate 50 prisoners is occupied by 31 inmates.

Visakahapatnam, Andhra Pradesh

74 prisoners, including seven women from the Visakhapatnam Central Prison were released on interim bail on Tuesday evening, reported The Times of India. The 74 prisoners included 53 remand and 21 convicted prisoners.

Kochi, Kerala

District jails have recommended the names of 122 prisoners to the Kerala Prisons and Correctional Services Department for temporary release due to the coronavirus outbreak, reported The New Indian Express. These 122 prisoners include 46 lodged in Muvattupuzha Special Sub Jail, 40 in District Jail at Kakkanad, 14 in Mattanchery Sub Jail, 10 in Ernakulam Sub Jail and 12 in Aluva Sub Jail.

Prisoners with more than one case against them, prisoners from other states and habitual offenders will not be released.

Gujarat

On Sunday, the Gujarat government announced that it would release 1,200 prisoners for two months on parole and interim bail to decongest prisons amid the Covid-19 outbreak, reported India Today.

On orders of CM Vijay Rupani, the Home Ministry has been asked to prepare a list of eligible inmates. The prisoners will be physically examined before being released and only the healthy will be sent home.

Odisha

Odisha DGP (Prisons) Santosh Upadhyay told The Hindu, “We have finalised names of 1,727 jail inmates who will be going on parole following a judicial process. We have already relocated 856 convicts to different jails.”

The merits of undertrials would be checked on a case to case basis. Odisha currently operates 90 prisons with a capacity of 18,012 inmates. The authorities are trying to bring this number down by 2,000.

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The Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to the Union Government as well as the state governments of Assam and Meghalaya in furtherance of a habeas corpus petition filed by Kaushik Phukan, son of missing United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) [ULFA(I)] negotiator Rebati Phukan. According to the petitioners, Rebati Phukan had gone missing when he failed to return from his morning walk in Guwahati on April 22. After protests broke out in different parts of the state, the state government initiated a CID investigation. However, later reports and audio messages from Paresh Baruah claimed that Phukan had been abducted by state agencies and was being kept in Meghalaya.

When the vacation bench asked the petitioners why they did not approach the High Court of Gauhati, they said that the reason is the reports and statements issued by Paresh Baruah pointing towards the possible involvement of intelligence agencies. This, they alleged, would render any investigation carried out by the CID irrelevant.

Rebati Phukan was a childhood friend of ULFA(I) Chief Paresh Baruah. Though he had never had any involvement with the Liberation Front, he had been approached by Indian intelligence agencies to convince the rebel leader to enter talks with the government. Phukan had reportedly been coordinating with R. N. Ravi, the Indo-Naga interlocutor, over bringing Baruah for talks.

Baruah has denied any involvement in Phukan’s disappearance and the family appears to trust Baruah’s statements. On the other hand, the role of the intelligence agencies in his disappearance appears strange considering that if Baruah were to enter negotiations with the government, ULFA’s armed movement would be finished. On the other hand, Baruah’s demand that sovereignty should be one of the options to be discussed is not palatable to the Indian State. Thus, keeping him away could enable the government to resolve the matter with the Arabinda Rajkhowa-led faction, while putting Baruah on the back foot in terms of manpower and movement.

Image Coutesy: Live Law In

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