The Supreme Court on Monday (January 6, 2025) said regarding granting exemption to the convicts sentenced to life imprisonment, that harsh conditions should not be imposed while releasing them. The court said that strict conditions should not be imposed while releasing prisoners prematurely under the remission policy. Justice Abhay S. The bench of Justice Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuiyan was considering various aspects related to granting remission to convicts serving life imprisonment in prisons across the country. However, the court has reserved its decision.
The Supreme Court said, ‘The conditions for granting exemption should not be so onerous that their implementation becomes difficult… such conditions will render the benefit of exemption meaningless.’ The bench said that the conditions of exemption should be such that its violation can be easily detected and if the exemption is canceled due to violation of the conditions, the culprits should have the right to be tried. style="text-align: justify;">The court was considering aspects related to what kind of conditions should be imposed while providing remission benefit to convicts sentenced to life imprisonment and under what circumstances it should be cancelled. Another issue before the Supreme Court was whether state governments are bound to consider the demand for permanent remission of eligible prisoners serving life imprisonment as per their policies, even if no such petition is filed.< /p>
The court was considering the question whether it is necessary to record reasons while rejecting such applications or not. After hearing the arguments of senior advocate and amicus curiae Liz Mathew, the court reserved the order on the aspect of exemption. The Senior Advocate stressed on standardizing remission procedures across States to maintain justice, ensure fairness and promote rehabilitation in line with India’s restorative criminal justice philosophy.
Liz Mathew said that remission of sentence or premature release is a discretionary power given to state governments under Section 432 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Articles 161 and 72 of the Constitution and other relevant laws. He said, ‘Giving relaxation is not the inherent right of any person, but it can be considered in this regard if certain conditions are fulfilled.’ The Supreme Court had issued several guidelines with the aim of standardizing and improving the transparency of the policies granting permanent remission to convicts in the country.