As a precaution against thecoronavirus epidemic, under-trial prisoners at Kalamba Jail in Maharashtra's Kolhapur district will not be sent to the courts in person but will 'appear' through video-conference.With the state recording the highest number of coronavirus patients in the country so far, the government is stressing the need to curtail unnecessary traveling.Jail superintendent Sharad Shelke said as per the government's orders, inmates will not be sent to the courts for hearings till March 31."Instead, all the under-trials will appear before the court through video-conference," he told PTI."We have three to four units of video-conference set- up in jail," he added.The Kalamba jail houses around 2,600 inmates and 1,400 of them are under-trial prisoners.Earlier, to reduce the crowding in jails, state Prisons Department had said it will request judicial authorities to grant regular or provisional bail to under- trial prisoners.
