States can release prisoners who complete 14 years: Supreme

New Delhi, 3 August 2021 Tuesday

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that the state government has the right to release a prisoner after serving 14 years in a conviction case for offenses that have the provision of death penalty as a maximum punishment under the CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure).

A bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and AS Bopanna made the remarks in the judgment. However, the court said that if the prisoner has not completed 14 years or the actual sentence, the governor has the power under Article 161 of the Constitution to grant pardon, relief, pardon or assistance, suspend, remove or reduce. The state government and this authority remove the sanctions imposed under the CrPC.

With this, the same Supreme Court bench quashed the decision of the single judge bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court dated May 12, 2020. The apex court, while upholding the Haryana policy of August 13, 2008 on the power of the state government to release prisoners, said that it was issued using the powers conferred under the CrPC and exceeding the previous order.