Good news for prisoners, Govt. decides to release some on Gandhi Jayanti
July 19, 2018The government has decided to release women and transgender convicts aged 55 years and above and male convicts of 60 years or more, who have completed half of their jail term, under an amnesty scheme across the country in three batches. Not only this, the government has also decided to set free convicts with 70% or more physical disability, convicts suffering from terminal illness as well as prisoners who have already completed 66% of their jail sentence.
The government will be releasing the first batch of prisoners on October 2 to mark the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The second batch will be released on April 10 and the third batch will be released on October 2 next year.
Further, the government has decided to not to release the convicts who have been punished with death penalty or life imprisonment and the convicts of other serious crimes such as rape, human trafficking, sexual harassment, dowry death, money laundering, corruption, terrorism, unlawful activities, counterfeiting, foreign exchange, drugs and other harmful substance.
Under the amnesty scheme, all the states and Union territories will be required to constitute a committee to process and examine the cases of the eligible prisoners and submit their recommendations for consideration before the Governor.