Apprise on steps taken to grant ‘remission’, UP DG-Prisons asked
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Uttar Pradesh Director General of Prisons to file an affidavit in his personal capacity giving details about the steps taken so far to grant the benefit of remission to convicts in the state in pursuance of its earlier judgement.
The top court had on September 6 last year taken note of the Uttar Pradesh policy on remission that there will be no requirement for the convict to submit an application for premature release and their cases will be considered automatically by the jail authorities.
The Supreme Court had asked the state government to follow the criteria laid down in its 2018 policy while considering within four months the issue of premature release of 512 prisoners who are serving life imprisonment and have moved the apex court.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha, while hearing a case related to grant of remission, issued a slew of directions including the one asking the state to provide the information as to how many convicts, who are eligible for premature release, are there in each district.
“How many cases have been considered for premature release since the judgment of this case?” it asked.
Seeking the personal affidavit of the Director General of Prisons in three weeks, the bench said the document must contain the “numbers of steps taken in pursuance of the judgement ... and the institutional arrangements put in place.”
“How many convicts are eligible for premature release district-wise?” it asked, adding the official will have to inform the court about the number of pending cases of remission and the time period by when they will be decided.
The bench also issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh State Legal Services Authority and appointed lawyer Rishi Malhotra as an amicus curiae (friend of court) to assist it.
Besides, it sought information about the status of remission of the sentences of 52 convicts who have moved the top court with their grievances in the instant petition by the next date of hearing.
