L-G Saxena grants special remission to jail inmates

New Delhi, January 25

Delhi Lieutenant-Governor VK Saxena on Thursday granted special remission on the occasion of Republic Day to various categories of prisoners, who are undergoing sentences ranging from one year to above ten years in different jails in the Capital.

While all women prisoners and men above the age of 65 years will be eligible to get a remission of 90 days for prisoners undergoing sentences of more than ten years, the remission for other categories varies from 20 to 90 days, officials said.

“For the prisoners undergoing sentence above 10 years, remission of 90 days would be granted to those above the age of 65 years and 60 days to other jail inmates,” officials added.

In the category of prisoners undergoing sentence of five years to up to 10 years, remission of 60 days will be accorded to men above 65 years of age and to all women, irrespective of age.

For men below the age of 65, the period of remission will be 45 days. A remission of 30 days will be granted to all categories of prisoners undergoing sentence more than a year and up to five years.

In case of sentences up to a year, while male prisoners above the age of 65 years and women prisoners (irrespective of age) will get a remission of 20 days, other inmates will get a remission of 15 days.

An official said, “The Prison Department through the Home Department, GNCTD, had submitted the proposal in terms of Rule 1185 of Delhi Prison Rules, 2018, and powers conferred under Section 432 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to grant special remission to the eligible convicts on the occasion of Republic Day, 2024.”

Remission by the government may be granted on occasions of national importance or public rejoicing. However, prisoners awarded life imprisonment on or after December 18, 1978, for an offence for which death is one of the penalties or whose death sentence has been commuted to life imprisonment are not eligible for remission, officials of the L-G office said.

Similarly, prisoners undergoing sentence in lieu of fine only, detenues under the National Security Act, the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, civil prisoners jailed for evading government dues, prisoners convicted for court-martial, those convicted for espionage under the Official Secret Act and prisoners arrested under the NDPS Act on or after May 20, 1989, are also not eligible for remission, officials said.

Remission is also not granted to prisoners sentenced for crimes against women, under Section 138 of Negotiable Instrument Act and other civil convicts and prisoners sentenced under the POCSO Act.