Social activist Medha Patkar approached the Apex Court for interim release of prisoners charged under Special Acts amid COVID-19.

Patkar along with & social activist Meera Sadanand Kamath has approached the Supreme Court challenging the Aug 5 judgment of the High Court of Bombay whereby all such convicted prisoners who are undergoing punishment under the Special Acts were refused to be released on interim bail in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

Patkar's organization, National Alliance of People's Movements, has also filed the plea for the interim release of prisoners charged under Special Acts amid the COVID-19.

The plea said that the Supreme Court on March 23 ordered that all States should constitute a high-powered committee for the release of prisoners on interim bail or emergency parole due to COVID-19. 

The Maharashtra State High Powered Committee (HPC) was constituted & it had directed that all persons who are accused or convicted of offences punishable with imprisonment of 7 years or less shall be released on interim bail or emergency parole, however, the Committee held that these directions would not apply to the prisoners who are accused of offences under the Special Acts or of serious economic offences.

Thereby, the Committee exclude prisoners charged under Special Acts from being considered for such interim release, & Patkar had challenged this decision before the High Court of Bombay, which rejected the plea.

Approaching the Supreme Court, the petition said that emergency parole was denied on the ground that these Special Acts provide for additional restrictions on grant of bail in addition to those under the Code of Criminal Procedure.

It added that the benefit of emergency parole was refused to the prisoners convicted for serious economic offences, bank scams or offences under the special Acts like MCOC, PMLA, MPID, NDPS, UAPA etc.

The petition sought a direction that the case of 17, 642 undertrial prisoners lodged in jails of Maharashtra for temporary release on interim bail, pending the final hearing in the matter, be considered.

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