New Delhi, Sep 30 (IANS) Delhi High Court Wednesday asked the police to take quick decisions on the increasing number of parole pleas from convicts languishing in Tihar jail here.
A division bench of Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice Manmohan directed Delhi Police to send out verification reports of parole pleas at the earliest.

It was hearing a plea of 28 Tihar jail inmates who had written a letter to the court complaining about the delay in hearing their parole pleas.

The letter led to a follow-up report from the Delhi Legal Services Authority (DLSA) that said it reflects the state of affairs of prisoners in the capital.

The court also directed DLSA to conduct a survey in the jail, examine the matter and file a status report by Oct 14, the next date of hearing.

“Prisoners in Delhi are away from their families for years. They are cut off from society and all of us are sad. Our morale is low,” the Tihar inmates said in their letter written in Hindi and dated July 13.

“In other northern states, 90 percent prisoners get parole, whereas here only five to 10 percent are let off on parole - that too for a very little time,” they added.

As per the laws, a prisoner can get parole for various reasons - to visit a dying or sick family member, build a house or repair a badly damaged home, among others.

The official process on a parole application starts with its verification by police and has to be finally cleared, in case of Delhi, by the lieutenant-governor.