Police should not arrest accused of it not necessary : SC.

The court has said in its order that the police should not arrest the accused if it is not necessary at present in cases of punishment less than 7 years. Along with this, the court also directed the officers to ensure the Medical facility to the inmates in the jail.
The second wave of Covid-19 has caused an outcry across the country. Cases of corona virus have started to be found among inmates in the jail. The risk of corona in Indian jails is much higher than previously held inmates. With this, the court has given this order to keep the number of prisoners in the jail low.
The apex court has also ordered high-level committees constituted in state governments and union territories to identify vulnerable categories of prisoners and release them on an urgent basis.
The Supreme Court has also directed that inmates who were given parole last year should be given 90 days furlough again due to the epidemic.

The court said ‘the Empowered Committee should release all the prisoners who were released on 23rd March 2020 with the appropriate conditions as per our order dated 23rd March 2020, in addition considering fresh release. Such practice is mandatory to save valuable time. ‘

After the onset of the epidemic last year, the Supreme Court on March 23 asked the states and union territories to constitute a high-level committee. The committee was to consider giving interim bail to inmates, parole and excluding undertrials who had been in excess of seven years to reduce congestion in prison during the Covid-19 epidemic.