HC Orders Release of 412 Punjab Prisoners

The Punjab and Haryana high court has ordered the release of 412 Punjab prisoners, whose applications for premature release have been pending, on interim bail within two weeks.

- HT Correspondent

CHANDIGARH: "The rather conspicuous failure on the part of the state agencies to process the applications of such a considerable number of inmates is deeply concerning. In doing so, the applicants have been subjected to further incarceration when they may be eligible to be released. Such an undisciplined approach is symptomatic of the culture of apathy that has developed on the subject of rights and well-being of convicts," the high court bench of justice HS Brar observed while directing Haryana and Chandigarh administration to furnish an affidavit on pending cases of premature release in the last two years, within eight weeks.

The directions came as the court came to know through a December 2024 affidavit from prisons department, Punjab, that a total of 412 different cases of pre-mature release of convicts lodged in state prisons are pending consideration.