Governor grants pardon to 8 life convicts

DEHRADUN

: On the occasion of Republic Day,

Uttarakhand

governor

K K Paul

has granted pardon to eight convicts serving life imprisonment in different jails across the state. Also, the terms of 58 others were reduced on grounds of good conduct.

The eight prisoners who were granted clemency are Soma (82),

Lachcham Singh

(75), Harish Messi (73), Gulzar (72), Harpal Singh (63), Leela Pathak (50), Roshan Lal (67) and Shekhar Chandra (67). While Soma, Lachcham, Harish, Gulzar, Harpal and Leela are lodged in

Haridwar

district jail, Roshan and Shekhar are serving life imprisonment in Central Jail of Sitarganj in Udham Singh Nagar district.

The jail terms of 58 other convicts have been reduced by a period of 15 to 60 days.

Talking to TOI, principal secretary (home) Anand Bardhan, who passed the order, said, “This is a routine exercise carried out on Independence Day and Republic Day. Based on the convicts’ requests, we look into various aspects before granting pardon.”

One of the most important factors for setting a convict free is the fact that he or she should not be a hardcore criminal. “Then we look into other factors like age, term served, conduct and the background of the convict,” added Bardhan.