{ AFTER LONG INCARCERATION } - SC backs early release in reformation push

Denying premature release to convicts who have served extremely long periods of incarceration not only crushes their spirit but also signifies society's resolve to be harsh and unforgiving, the Supreme Court held on Thursday, favouring the grant of remission to prisoners even in heinous cases if they have shown reformation

- Utkarsh Anand

A bench of justices S Ravindra Bhat and Dipankar Datta underlined the need to consider the rehabilitation and reformation of convicts, who, during the long period of incarceration, may have transformed and earned the relief of remission by alienating themselves from the persons they were at the time of conviction.

"Regardless of the morality of the continuing punishment, one may question its rationality. The question is, what is achieved by continuing to punish a person who recognises the wrongness of what they have done, no longer identifies with it, and bears little resemblance to the person they were years earlier," stressed the bench, as it ordered release of a man from Kerala who had undergone more than 26 years in jail in a murder case.

According to the court, denial of premature release to persons who were convicted when they were young and have served 20 years or more behind bars would violate their fundamental right protected under Article 14 (equality) if the remission board or the state government considers only the facts present at the time of their conviction.

"Excluding the relief of premature release to prisoners who have served extremely long periods of incarceration not only crushes their spirit and instills despair but signifies society's resolve to be harsh and unforgiving. The idea of rewarding the prisoner for good conduct is entirely negated," said the bench.