Convicts, undertrials released during Covid return to jail after SC order

The inmates who were granted emergency bail or parole during the COVID-19 pandemic queued outside Tihar prison here on Friday to surrender before the authorities following the apex court's direction.

Bajrang Saini, who came to drop off his two brothers who were arrested in a murder case in Delhi's Kirti Nagar, said, My brothers were arrested in a murder case around five-year-ago. They came out of the jail in 2021 and since then they have been doing private jobs.

"We are hoping that the case will end in the near future, and they will be able to start their life afresh. We know that they are not criminals. They committed the crime in anger," Saini said.

The Supreme Court on March 24 directed that all convicts and UTP, who were released during the COVID-19 pandemic in a move to decongest jails, to surrender within 15 days.

The Delhi prisons department said that a total of 128 undertrial prisoners (UTP) and convicts returned to jail in the last 10 days, from March 27 to April 5.

Among