The High Court of Karnataka on Thursday directed the State government to submit details of the number of prisoners who have tested positive for COVID-19 across all the prisons in the State and the measures taken to prevent the spread of the infection on jail premises.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Hemant Chandangoudar passed the order on a petition filed by Amol Kale, a prime accused in the Gauri Lankesh murder case who is under judicial custody and is lodged at the central prison in Mysuru.

The Bench directed the government to inform the court about the facilities available at all the prisons for treating COVID-19 positive undertrials and convicted prisoners. It also asked whether the facility for isolating prisoners was available.

The government was also asked to explain whether prisoners were being checked regularly for symptoms of COVID-19, if there was a policy to test undertrials, and whether undertrials brought for the first time were being kept in quarantine.

It was pointed out in the petition, filed in July, that some prisoners had tested positive for COVID-19 at Mysuru prison and there was apprehension about spread of the infection. The petitioner stated that he was living in mental agony as he was lodged in a cell next to the isolation section where some inmates awaiting their COVID-19 test results were lodged. The petitioner complained that there was no separate place for isolation and one of cells situated next to other regular cells was used for isolation.

Pointing out that he was not able to get bail based on the apex court guidelines as he had been charged under the special law of Karnataka Control of Organised Crimes Act, and there was no possibility of an early trial in the present scenario, the petitioner said it was the government’s duty to ensure that the fundamental rights of himself and other prisoners were not curtailed.

He sought a direction to the authorities to subject all the prisoners at Mysuru prison to COVID-19 test and to direct the authorities to set up an isolation centre outside the main prison, besides providing immunity-boosting Vitamin C tablets, Ayurvedic medicines, masks, and sanitisers. The petitioner also sought a direction to the government to shift him back to the central prison in Bengaluru.