The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday sought a report from the provincial government on steps taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in prisons after ruling out blanket release of prisoners from jails on the sole ground of the coronavirus as the rule of law is not compromised in any manner whatsoever.
"At this preliminary stage, however, we are not convinced that the coronavirus in itself could be the sole ground for a blanket release of prisoners from jail. We have to be mindful that the rule of law is not compromised in any manner whatsoever," an SHC division bench headed by Justice Omar Sial ruled in a petition filed by Shahzad Roy through Shahab Osto.
The petitioner prayed that in view of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, under-trial prisoners in Karachi jails and prisons be released on bail. The court in its order stated that it is aware that on the directives of the Chief Justice of SHC, 829 under-trial prisoners involved in minor offences have already been granted bail and have been released. This is an ongoing exercise.
Similarly, complete screening of inmates confined to all the detention facilities of the province in view of the coronavirus outbreak and to stop unnecessary entry of people on the jail premises has also been ordered.
Furthermore, the court, while appreciating the efforts of the Sindh government, observed that it also appeared that taking a proactive approach, the chief minister of the province has also taken notice of the situation in the prisons and has directed certain steps to be taken to combat and contain the spread of the virus among the prison inmates.
At this preliminary stage, however, the court observed that it is not convinced that the coronavirus in itself could be the sole ground for a blanket release of prisoners from jail. "We have to be mindful that the rule of law is not compromised in any manner whatsoever," the bench said.
The court, however, said that it is cognizant that prisons contain a highly vulnerable population in overcrowded conditions and once the virus gets inside prisons, the results could be drastic.
As an initial step, the court issued notices to Advocate-General, Sindh to appraise the court of the steps being taken by the Sindh government to prevent the spread of the virus within the prison. Similarly, the court also directed the IG of Prisons, Sindh, to submit a report in the court.