The report of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on custody and detention of prisoners have stated that the state government had to bear huge additional expenses in maintaining the undertrials who were not released even after serving half of the maximum period of imprisonment specified for the offence committed.

The CAG maintained in its reports that the life convicts were retained even after completion of 14 years of imprisonment.

“According to the provisions of Section 61 of the Act read with Section 433 A of CrPc, a life convict may be released from custody after completion of 14 years of imprisonment,” the report stated and added: “The Judicial Department of the state government constituted a State Sentence Review Board (SSRB) in January 2000 to review the cases of life convicts detained in different correctional homes for more than 14 years. The state government, however, did not formulate any guideline for the premature release of life convicts.”

The CAG noted that the SSRB reviewed cases of 163 out of 265 life convicts who had rendered 14-20 years of imprisonment up to the period of review and only 62 were released.

The cases of 101 life convicts were yet to be reviewed then, it added.

In six correctional homes, 94 out of 334 life convicts were released during 2003-2008 and remaining 240 were retained in custody as of March 2008. The CAG has found that the jail department had to incur Rs 1.59 crore during the said period on the prisoners who were not released.

... contd.