The Hindu : National : Rise in premature release of life convicts

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Wednesday, Jan 02, 2008
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Rise in premature release of life convicts

Staff Reporter

Kolkata: The premature release of life convicts in West Bengal has significantly grown in 2007, with around 90 releases throughout the year.

The State Sentence Review Board that met on December 31 has recommended the premature release of 25 life convicts, taking the total number this year up to 90, said B.D. Sharma, Inspector General of the State’s Department of Correctional Services.

It was significantly higher than other years, he said. The number of life convicts prematurely released had been 29, 10 and 25 in 2004, 2005 and 2006 respectively.

The process was gradually being liberalised with more premature releases for those above 55 years of age and who had served more than 20 years in actual imprisonment, Mr. Sharma said.

“Unless they have committed some particularly heinous or gruesome crime, the idea is to let people go home and spend some time with their family,” he added. The chances of their committing a crime were also slim at an advanced age.

“The release is determined after obtaining clearance from the prison authorities, police and the State’s Chief Probation Officer. At present, there are about 2,200 life convicts in prisons across West Bengal, around half of the total inmates.”

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