Patna: For hundreds of prisoners across India, completing 14 years in jail has still not brought them closer to freedom. Although a life sentence extends till the convict’s natural death unless remission is granted by the govt, prison remission rules permit consideration of premature release of eligible convicts after 14 years of actual imprisonment and good conduct, said experts. Yet, RTI data has revealed that 1,035 prisoners lodged in 46 jails across the country continue to remain incarcerated even after crossing that threshold.The details of convicts serving imprisonment in different jails for more than 14 years have been received from different jail superintendents of the country in reply to a petition filed under the provisions of RTI Act, 2005 by Patna-based activist Vikash Chandra alias Guddu Baba. All the 1,035 prisoners have already completed the “maximum period of their punishment” as per the details received through RTI.The data reveals that Haryana accounts for the highest number of such prisoners, with 403 inmates having spent more than 14 years in jail. Among them, Faridabad District Jail alone houses 228 such prisoners, followed by Karnal District Jail with 87 inmates. Bhiwani and Gurugram district jails have 63 and 25 such prisoners respectively who have completed over 14 years of imprisonment.The data received from other prisons include Andhra Pradesh jails (83), Telangana jails (51), Himachal Pradesh jails (48), Tinsukia District Jail (42), Guwahati Central Jail (30), Tihar Central Jail, Delhi (23) and Tezpur Central Jail (18).The petitioner also sought such information from all the 60 jails located in Bihar, but did not receive the reply from the authorities concerned so far.State director of prisons Sanjeev Jamuar told TOI that he would have to obtain the data from all the jails concerned and the process will take time. However, sources in the state home department pointed out that the number of prisoners having served more than 14 years in different prisons of the state is not less than 50.The presence of a large number of long-term and undertrial prisoners has contributed to severe overcrowding in jails in the state. Across Bihar’s 60 jails, facilities are housing roughly 62,000 inmates despite having a sanctioned capacity of only 47,750. However, Jamuar claimed that only a few prisons like Beur Central Jail in Patna are facing overcrowding and the remaining prisons of the state are not facing any problem of accommodation.Patna high court’s senior advocate S K Lal pointed out that a group of 14 CPI(ML) activists from Arwal were convicted under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) in 2003. While one was granted relief by the high court in 2020 and some others passed away in prison. Several surviving members remained incarcerated for more than 22 years before receiving parole or relief only recently. In 2023, the state amended prison rules to release 27 long-term convicts.Meanwhile, activist Guddu Baba has submitted separate petitions to the President of India, Union home minister and all authorities concerned to intervene in the matter and order release of all such prisoners who have served the requisite punishment in jails. After all, the motto of punishment should be reformative and if a prisoner shows good conduct after having served the imprisonment, he must be freed and allowed to lead a social life with his family members and well wishers, he said.
