In Brief

In March 2020, the Supreme Court took suo motu cognizance of the urgent threat posed by COVID-19 to India's prisons. With occupancy rates exceeding 117%, prisons risked becoming hotbeds for viral transmission. The Court found an imminent need for emergency measures: immediate testing, isolation, and quarantine of positive cases; medical treatment; and screening of new inmates. The Court issued show-cause notices to all States and Union Territories directing them to explain what preventive steps they were taking and to suggest additional measures for prisoner and juvenile welfare. A two-judge Bench appointed an Amicus Curiae and scheduled the next hearing for 23 March 2020.

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