After 7 months, J&K Govt restores parole facility for prisoners

Srinagar, Mar 30 : Nearly seven months after the Parliament scrapped the legal framework for temporary release of convicts in Jammu & Kashmir, the government has come up with the rules to restore the provision of parole for the prisoners lodged in jails of Union Territory.

The Home department today notified “The Jammu & Kashmir Suspension of Sentence Rules-2020” which will govern parole for convicts in J&K as the law under which it was granted was repealed by the Parliament on August 5 when it approved re-organisation of the erstwhile State of J&K into two Union Territories.

Before re-organisation of Jammu Kashmir, the convicts were released under” The Jammu and Kashmir Good Conduct of Prisoners (TEMPORARY RELEASE) Act, 1978 and the rules framed for its implementation.

The new rules have been framed under the central Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 which replaced erstwhile J&K’s CrPC. Under the new rules, prisoners convicted of sedition, militancy and NDPS would not be entitled for parole.

The prisoners who presence in the society may be considered dangerous or otherwise prejudicial to public peace and order by the district magistrate of his home district would also not be entitled for temporary release under the rules.

As per KNO, those convicted of heinous crimes like murder after rape, multiple murders and murder after kidnapping would not be granted parole. The convicted foreigners can be granted parole only after approval of Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs and that too after they should have valid permission to stay in India. According to the rules, the period of parole of prisoners will be 30 days but it could be extended up to 45 days in exceptional circumstances.

The parole, as per rules, will be granted, to a prisoner due to serious illness of his/ her family members, critical condition in the family on account of accident or death of a family member, marriage of a family member, delivery of a child by wife, sowing and harvesting of crops, serious damage to life or property of the family of the convict including damage caused by natural calamities and other grounds—(KNO)