A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Wednesday directed the State government not to release any convict without serving their entire prison sentence until further orders.
The Bench, headed by Chief Justice Navniti Prasad Singh, passed the order when a public interest writ petition filed by P.D. Joseph of Thrissur against the State government move to release certain convicts came up for hearing.
The court directed the State government to file a comprehensive affidavit explaining the statutory provisions regarding the remission of prisoners. The court asked the government to state in the affidavit the provisions of the Jail Manual and the policy decisions of the government.
The petitioner sought a directive to the State government not to release convicts involved in heinous crimes such as rape, murder, and dacoity from jails in the State.
According to him, an information obtained under the RTI Act had revealed that convicted CPI(M) workers undergoing life imprisonment for the murder of T.P. Chandrasekharan had figured on the government list of those eligible for remission of sentence.
The list also contained the names of Muhammed Nisham, a convict in the case relating to the murder of a security guard, and a contract killer Om Prakash, convicted in the Paul George Muthoot murder case, the petitioner said.
He said the decision of the State government was illegal. The Home Department had not considered the increasing political violence in the State while preparing the list. The decision to release certain prisoners was taken only on account of their political allegiance.
Brutal criminal activities such as murder could be brought to a halt only if the convicts in such cases were kept behind the bars. Releasing them before they served out their jail terms would send a wrong message to society. In fact, only those prisoners afflicted with deadly diseases were legally entitled to get remission, the petitioner said.
Mr. Joseph also sought a directive to the government to produce the list of convicts who were recommended for release from prisons.
