SC permits AP to consider remission of prisoners

The Supreme Court allowed Andhra Pradesh government to consider the cases of those serving lifers who have completed 14 years in jail, for premature release.A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam also ruled that the state governor may grant pardon or remission after considering the cases of individual convicts.An advocate, Chandrashekhar Reddy, had challenged the decision of the Andhra Pradesh government ordering premature release of more than 100 convicts on the occasion of 150th anniversary of the First War of Independence.The petitioner had relied on a Supreme Court ruling that the Governor or the President of India cannot grant remission or pardon arbitrarily or for political or extraneous considerations. Senior counsel Harish Salve appearing for Andhra Pradesh pleaded that an administrative committee/board constituted by the government can recommend premature release or remission of sentence after taking into consideration relevant factors such as conduct of a prisoner during his stay in jail, family circumstances, his utility to the society, gravity of his offence coupled with possibility of his reformation and the like

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