PANJIM: The Goa government has notified guidelines for premature release of a prisoner after serving 14 years of jail term, without remission, in cases of conviction for the offences prescribing death penalty as the maximum sentence.
However, completion of 14 years in prison, alone won’t be criteria for premature release, but other factors including his or her conduct in jail, socio-economic condition of the convict family, among others will be taken into account.
In the general guidelines that were notified last week, the State Sentence Review Board has powers to prematurely release prisoners serving life imprisonment.
The State Home Department has said that every convicted prisoner, whether male or female, undergoing life sentence and covered under provision of Section 433-A of Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, shall be eligible to be considered for premature release from prison after serving the sentence of 14 years of actual imprisonment i.e. without remission.
“However, completion of 14 years in prison by itself would not entitle a life convict for automatic release from the prison and the State Sentence Review Board will have the discretion to release a convict, at an appropriate time in all cases considering the circumstance in which the crime was committed and other relevant factors,” the guidelines said.
The Board will consider factors like, whether the convict has lost his potential for committing crime considering his overall conduct in jail during the 14 years of actual incarceration, the possibility of reclaiming the convict as a useful member of society, and socio-economic condition of the convict’s family.
These guidelines will help the Board to arrive at a logical decision from time-to-time.
The Home Department said the period of imprisonment is 18 years for offences relating to crime by women where the convict has no criminal history and has committed the murder in an individual capacity without premeditation. In the case of premeditated crime by an individual or by a gang, it is 20 years.
In case of offence related to women or minor, the imprisonment period varies from 20 years to 28 years.
