Background In this case, the Court discussed that on 16.03.2020, it had sought response from the Government Officials in relation to the immediate measures to be adopted for the welfare of prison inmates and juveniles lodged in remand homes. Vide Order dated 23.03.2020, various High-Powered Committees were set up and on the basis of their recommendations, lot of prisoners were released either on Interim Bail or Parole. Parole is temporary release of prisoner before completion of a sentence, on the promise of good conduct. When the active cases reduced, those prisoners were asked to report and close to 90% of them have returned to the prisons. The recent spike in Covid-19 cases in India concerned the Court regarding the spread of the Covid-19 disease in the already overcrowded prisons that lack basic sanitation, hygiene and medical amenities. The Court observed that there are close to four lakh prison inmates in India and rights of the accused persons must be taken into account by effectively managing the Covid situation in the Prisons across India. Directions by the Court 1. No automatic arrests in cases of Section 498A of IPC (Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) and arrests to take place only after compliance of Section 41 of CrPC that provides for when the Police may arrest without a warrant. 2. The mandate of Section 41 of CrPC needs to be complied with. When the accused is produced before the Magistrate, he shall peruse the Report furnished by the Police and only after recording its satisfaction, the Magistrate will authorize detention. 3. Even the decision not to arrest needs to be forwarded to the Magistrate within two weeks from the date of institution of the case. 4. Notice of appearance under Section 41A of CrPC (Notice of appearance before police officer) needs to be served on the accused within two weeks of the institution of the case. 5. Failure in compliance of these directions shall render the concerned officials liable for departmental action and contempt of court before the concerned High Court. In the same manner, authorizing detention without recording of reasons shall render the concerned Magistrates liable for departmental action. 6. All these directions will be applicable on all the offences that are punishable with imprisonment for a term that is seven years or less than that. 7. The High-Powered Committees shall consider release of prisoners either on Interim Bail or Parole based on the earlier guidelines framed. 8. All the prisoners that were released pursuant to the Order dated 23.03.2020, should be released by imposing appropriate conditions, in order to save valuable time. 9. Prisoners who were granted parole earlier in the year 2020 should be granted a parole for a period of 90 days in order to reduce spread of Covid cases. 10. The decisions of the High-Powered Committees and the prison occupancy status needs to be updated on the concerned websites to “enable effective dissemination of information.” 11. Not all prisoners would want to get released owing to their social status and fear of contracting Covid-19. The concerns of such prisoners need to be considered in proper perspective by the authorities. 12. The prisoners who are still imprisoned must be provided proper medical facilities and spread of disease should be controlled in prisons by proper testing and immediate treatment. 13. Daily hygiene and sanitation is required to be maintained and considering the lockdown and curfew situation, appropriate steps for transportation of released inmates shall be taken. Concluding Remarks I find it to be a much-needed Order by the Supreme Court. Ideally speaking, when the High-Powered Committees have already been constituted, they could have taken this decision on their own. But such is the dire state of affairs that the Court was required to intervene to look after the welfare of the prison inmates. Rights of the accused persons and prisoners cannot be taken lightly. Such