Mitali Palnitkar
Published On: February 03, 2022 at 17:13 IST
The Supreme Court directed the Government of Uttar Pradesh to re-examine its Policy for Premature Release of Life Term Convicts which prescribes a minimum age of 60 years. The Court stated that it Prima Facie did not seem to be sustainable.
The Bench comprised of Justices SK Kaul and MM Sundresh. It was considering an Appeal filed by a Convict who sought direction for his Premature Release from the Prison.
The Policy prescribes that all the Convicts who completed the age of 60 and had undergone Custody of 20 years without Remission and 25 years with Remission, were eligible for a Premature Release.
The Bench stated, “We would like to express a great doubt on the validity of this clause prescribing a minimum age of 60 years which would imply that a young offender of 20 years will have to serve 40 years before his Case of Remission can be considered.”
The Petitioner had contended referring to the Case of State of Haryana and Ors v. Raj Kumar that the Policy that was prevalent at the time of Conviction shall be considered for the Premature Release of the Prisoner. He stated that the 2021 Policy prescribing minimum age of 60 years was not applicable to his Case.
The Bench stated that it was not required for them to test the aspect of the Policy but they could direct the State Government to re-examine the clause in the Policy.
The Court issued two directions – to consider the Case of the Petitioner for Remission within three months, and consider the Amendment of the Policy within four months.
The Bench noted, “We may note that according to the Counsel for the State the Remission Policy is also under challenge before this Court but then that cannot preclude the State itself from re-visiting the issue.”
The Supreme Court noted that the Convict had served about 22 ½ years in Jail without Remission and 28 years without Remission. Therefore, the Court granted him Bail.