The pandemic has brought to focus the issue of overcrowding in Indian prisons with the Supreme Court taking cognizance of the vulnerability of prisoners and instituting a suo moto petition, In Re: Contagion of Covid-19 Virus in Prisons. CHRI’s report ‘Responding to the Pandemic: Prisons and Overcrowding’ examines the functioning and the efforts made by the High Powered Committee (HPC) and the Undertrial Review Committees (UTRC) of 28 States/UTs during the period April to June 2020 and analyses the impact of decongestion efforts on prison populations across these states. The report will be released by Hon’ble Justice Madan B. Lokur, Retired Judge of the Supreme Court, who would also deliver the keynote address. The launch would be followed by a panel discussion on “Decongestion of prisons: Way forward”, which will bring together members of the HPC of various states.

The event will be live-streamed on youtube on Saturday, 19th of December 2020 from 12.00 pm to 1.30 pm.