Easing Overcrowding at Jails: Govt mulling release of petty criminals, long-term convicts

Apart from over 3,000 petty criminals, the governemnt is planning to release 1,413 inmates who were sentenced to life-term imprisonment and have alresdy served more than 20 years in jail, amid the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The aim of releasing around 5,000 prisoners is to lower the chances of coronavirus transmission in crowded jails, said sources.

The home ministry has sent a proposal to law ministry for its opinion.

Contacted, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said, "We have sent the recommendations to the law ministry. We will scrutinise everything after getting a response."

"We are thinking of releasing those who served more than 20 years in jail, but are stuck due to the new definition of life imprisonment given by former chief justice SK Sinha. Besides we are thinking of releasing some disabled prisoners," the minister told The Daily Star yesterday.

According to prison and home ministry sources, there are more than 5,000 prisoners, who have been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, in different jails.

Of them, 1,413 were named in the list for release as they have served more than 20 years in prison and there were no pending cases against them either; the ministry is planning on releasing them without condition, they added.

The release of many of them stopped after former Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha in a judgment in February 2017 said life imprisonment means jail sentence until natural death of the convict.

A review petition against the judgement is still pending.

A prison official said as per the home ministry's order, they sent on April 5 the list of prisoners who are being considered for release or bail are under three categories.

"There are more than 3,000 prisoners in the first category who were sentenced to two-year imprisonment or less but served in jail for several months already. The second category includes 1,413 life-sentenced prisoners, and there are 36 disabled prisoners under the third category," he said.

"We are also preparing a list of under-trial prisoners who have been in jail for years for different crimes except murder, terrorism and rape," said another prisons official.

A home ministry official said they are yet to decide whether the prisoners under first category will be exempted or released on bail. It will be decided as per the law minister's response.

Public health specialists have expressed concern that many prisoners might contract coronavirus in the densely populated jails plagued by unhygienic living conditions.

Sources at the department of prisons said there are around 89,000 prisoners at 68 jails across the country, against a capacity of 41,244, posing a high risk of coronavirus outbreak inside the prisons.