Life Imprisonment equals 14 years, 20 years or till convict's natural death?

Life Imprisonment in India

There is nowhere mentioned in the Constitution that the sentence of life imprisonment will be of a specific number of years (14,20 etc.). After being found guilty, the court decides that the culprit will get life imprisonment or any other sentence.The Supreme Court has clarified in its decision in 2012 that life imprisonment or life imprisonment means jail for life and nothing more than that. Life imprisonment means prison for an entire lifetime i.e. he will have to stay in a jail till death.The sentence of life imprisonment is not 14 years or any ‘n’ number of years. These are misconceptions andthe court's work is to punish the guilty, but it is in the hands of the state government to execute it. The authority of the state government is to release the accused of life imprisonment in 14 years, in 20 years or till the time of death.

Life Imprisonment as in the Constitution of India

It is not written in the Constitution of India that the sentence of life imprisonment will be 14, 20 or 30 years. Giving life imprisonment to the culprit means that he will have to be punished only in jail unless he dies.

Why do sentences shorten to 14, 20 or 30 years?

In order to reduce the prisoner's duration, under the CRPC Section 432 of the Constitution, the appropriate government must pass a specific order.At the same time, under the Constitution 433-A of the CRPC, the State Government has got this right that it can reduce or suspend the sentence of the prisoners. Regardless of the punishment, whether it is a few months, years or years of life, the state governments have the complete discretion to request it to be reduced.

The prisoner is under the supervision of the state government, so the state government has been entrusted it, in such a case, if the state government appeals to the reduction of punishment, it is heard. The thing to note here is that life imprisonment can be for 16 years or 30 years or forever but cannot be less than 14 years.It has been decided by the Constitution that the state government should ensure that the culprit convicted of life imprisonment is not released before 14 years.

What can be the reason for release?

After 14 years, the state government can reside any time after 14 years, depending on the conduct of the prisoner, illness, family issues or any reason which is correct or necessary.