The government has decided to release a large number of convicts serving time for non-heinous crimes in three ... Read More

NEW DELHI: The government has decided to release a large number of convicts serving time for non-heinous crimes in three phases, with senior citizens, women, transgenders, physically challenged and terminally ill inmates who have completed at least half their terms being eligible. The first batch will be freed on October 2, Gandhi Jayanti .

The decision was taken by the Cabinet on Wednesday. The final batch of prisoners will be released on October 2 next year. In between, a second batch will be set free on April 10, which is the anniversary of the Champaran satyagraha. The government has lined up a series of activities as part of the year-long celebration of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary.

Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said special remission will not be given to prisoners who have been convicted for an offence for which they have drawn a death sentence or it has been commuted to life imprisonment. He added cases of convicts involved in serious crimes like dowry death, rape, human trafficking and are convicted under Pota, UAPA, Tada, FICN, POCSO Act, money-laundering, Fema, NDPS, Prevention of Corruption Act will also not be covered under this amnesty scheme.

Prasad said women and transgender convicts aged 55 years and above and male convicts of 60 years or more, who have completed half of their sentence, will be released. Convicts with 70% or more physical disability will get the relief on similar conditions. “We will also consider the case of terminally ill convicts and convicted prisoners who have completed two-thirds (66%) of their actual sentence period,” the minister said.

The home ministry will issue an advisory to all states and Union territories to process the cases of eligible prisoners. Each of them will constitute a committee to examine the cases and subsequently their recommendations will be placed before the governor for consideration.

TOI has learned that though the issue of extending the amnesty plan to undertrials came up during the discussion in the Cabinet meeting, the government decided to stick to convicted persons only to avoid any controversy.

