The Hindu: Kolkata: Sunday, April 29, 2018.
There are 458
life convicts who have completed 14 years of imprisonment in several
correctional homes in West Bengal, and as per existing laws, the State government
should initiate the process of considering their release, the reply to the RTI
query had revealed on August 17, 2017. The State government, however, is far
from granting remission to any of these life convicts, despite the Calcutta
High Court’s order to complete the process by May 2, 2018.
The RTI query
was filed by Pradeep Singh Thakur, State secretary of the Communist Party of
India-Marxist-Leninist (CPI-ML-Red Star). The highest number of such convicts
are lodged in the Lalogola Open Air Correctional Home (89), followed by the
Alipore Central Correctional Home (87). The Presidency Central Correctional
Home and the Midnapore Central Correctional Home each have 57 such convicts.
“We are yet
to decide on the remission of the [sentence of 458] life term convicts in the
State as the verification reports [from the police] about such convicts are yet
to arrive,” Ujjal Biswas, the West Bengal Minister for the Department of
Correctional Administration told The Hindu. “So far, we have sent about 250 of these
life term convicts to open jails,” he added.
Mr. Biswas
pointed out that the Calcutta High Court, in its judgement on November 2, 2017,
referred to the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court for such remission.
‘Case by
case’
The HC order,
delivered by the Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Jyotirmay Bhattacharya
and Justice Arijit Banerjee, had stated, “We direct the respondent authorities
to undertake the exercise of considering case by case as to whether the life of
convicts, who are presently in correctional homes, can be released upon
remission of their punishment, following the guidelines laid down by the
Hon’ble Apex Court in the aforesaid case.”
The Supreme
Court, in the related judgement, had stated that while granting remission, the
concerned government has to “consider not only the gravity of the crime but
also other circumstances, including whether the prisoner has now been
de-sensitised and is ready to be assimilated in the society.”