The Home Ministry will scrutinize the names of 3,000 prisoners before sending the list to the Law Ministry for their release given the critical time the country is passing through due to coronavirus pandemic, a high official of the ministry said
He said the jail authorities have proposed to set about 3,000 prisoners free. However, it will not include hardened or dangerous criminals, he added.
The prison authorities on Wednesday said they were planning to release around 3,000 prisoners to ease congestion in jails over the coronavirus threat.
We are considering whether those who are awaiting trials for bailable offences can be released on bail," according to the Home Ministry.
"There are about 3,000 people who are in jail for minor offences and we have sent their names to the Home Ministry," according to the jail authorities.
However, the Home Ministry sources said they had received a list of 1420 prisoners who had already served 20 years of imprisonment.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told the media that they were discussing the matter with the authorities concerned. "It's still at a discussion level."
"The decision on bail will ultimately be taken by the judiciary as the matter falls within the jurisdictions of judges, not us," the source said.
Feeding inmates three times in 24 hours need a huge budget of the government.
Around 89,000 prisoners are there in 68 jails throughout the country against the total capacity of 40,100.
Such cramped conditions are a veritable wonderland for disease and viral infection.
However, the prison authorities also announced that the accused or convicted like top terrorists, militants, convicts of sensational cases, among others, will not get the facility.
Some 11,000 prisoners in Maharashtra in India whose sentence period is less than seven years, will be released on parole due to coronavirus threat, according to the Economic Times.
Iran has temporarily freed about 85,000 people from jail, including political prisoners, in response to the coronavirus epidemic, a judiciary spokesman said, according to Reuters.
