The Hindu : National : `Release life convicts who have completed sentence'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 07, 2004

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National

`Release life convicts who have completed sentence'

By Our Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 6 . The Supreme Court today directed all the States and Union territories to respond within four weeks to a public interest litigation (PIL) petition alleging that thousands of life convicts were languishing in jails across the country after completion of their sentence.

A Bench of Justice S. N. Variava and Justice H. K. Sema issued notice on the PIL filed by M. K. Balakrishnan seeking immediate release of convicts who had completed more than 14 years of incarceration. The Bench made it clear that the Chief Secretaries of the States and UTs would be responsible for filing the replies. If a State or UT failed to respond within four weeks, its Chief Secretary would have to be present in court on the next date of hearing. The Bench said that it would hear this PIL along with two others — one by the Society for Human Life and Civil Liberties and another by Anil Sharma, challenging the premature release of life convicts by the Haryana Government.The petitioner alleged that the State Governments were insensitive to the plight of thousands of prisoners who had completed 14 years in jail after they were sentenced to life imprisonment and had unblemished records in the prison. The State Governments concerned had the power to grant remission of sentence, but were not exercising it.

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