Govt may free 183 lifers on humanitarian grounds

KOLKATA: The department of correctional services has decided to release 183 convicts serving life sentences in prisons across the state and sent a proposal to the state home department in this regard.
While the governor had used his special powers to commute some convicts' life sentences earlier, the state has never allowed such mass remission of life terms.This is routinely done in states like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, though.
The department of correctional services has identified 165 male and 16 female convicts serving life sentences who, it said, could be set free as most of them were old and infirm. The department sent its mass remission proposal to the state home department last week as West Bengal's special initiative on the occasion of the 63rd Independence Day. It also said the move would be a fitting tribute to Tagore when the nation is observing his 150th birth anniversary.
The chosen male convicts fall in two categories those aged between 50 and 60 years and have completed 20 years of imprisonment and those above 60 years of age have completed 14 years of imprisonment. In case of the 16 chosen women, the proposal seeks to remit their life sentences after seven years of imprisonment.
B D Sharma, additional director general of correctional services, explained that the special consideration in case of the 16 women was because they had minor children at home who have no one to take care of them. Moreover, many of these are girl children and hence, extremely vulnerable. "We have investigated and seen that none of the chosen women is a hardened criminal or a habitual offender and is serving the sentence in relation to violence within the family," he added.
All the 165 chosen male convicts are, however, being considered because they are old, ailing and need to be cared for by their families for the last few years of their lives. The proposal also says that the state is already spending heavily on their treatment and they are not able to work anymore though they have to be paid their wages. This financial burden on the department can be done away with if these convicts are released.
A senior official of the home department explained that though this experiment is being tried out for the first time in West Bengal, sections 432 and 433 of the CrPC and Article 16 of the Constitution allows the state government to remit life sentences, if it is deemed fit.
"We have not considered convicts who are serving life sentences for conspiring against the state or those who have been caught for terrorist activities," Sharma explained.
"The proposal is being considered on humanitarian grounds, but it will take some time for us to take a final call on the matter because it is a first of its kind," said state minister for correctional services, Biswanath Chowdhury.
Home secretary Samar Ghosh, who is also secretary of this department, said: "We are trying to find out if the life sentences of these convicts can be commuted."