Suppose, the release of a prisoner is stopped just because the Chief Minister who gives the approval is also in jail as a prisoner – this is nothing but the latest picture of the country’s politics and the prevailing system.
This case is from Delhi. Like the rest of the country, there is a system in place in Delhi also where some prisoners are released from jail before the completion of their sentence. There have been a lot of controversies in such cases.
Just like the Gujarat government had released 11 prisoners in the Bilkis Bano case, and there was a lot of uproar over that. Similarly, there was a lot of uproar over the release of Anand Mohan, who was serving a sentence in a murder case in Bihar – but the case of Delhi is not like that of Gujarat and Bihar.
In the case of Delhi, the politics is limited to the fact that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is in jail in the Delhi liquor policy case – and because of this, the file for the release of prisoners is not moving forward.
From the prisoners’ point of view, the good thing is that the matter of their release has reached the Supreme Court – and the court has issued a notice to the government asking it to apprise it of the actual situation.
How to release before time
Under Section 432 of the CRPC, state governments can release any convicted prisoner by cancelling his entire imprisonment period or part of it, but for that certain conditions have to be fulfilled by the prisoner. For example, the prisoner’s conduct during his stay in jail, any rehabilitation program, the prisoner’s health and the time of serving the sentence.
According to the current procedure, the Delhi government recommends early release of prisoners who are eligible to be released before the completion of their sentence. The Delhi government’s proposal is signed by the Chief Minister. This proposal goes to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi for approval, and only after his approval is a prisoner released from jail – the problem is that the Delhi Chief Minister is not available to sign, because he is currently in jail.
While releasing Arvind Kejriwal on interim bail during the Lok Sabha elections, the Supreme Court had allowed Arvind Kejriwal, as the Chief Minister, to sign only those files which were extremely important. Otherwise, he was even barred from going to the Delhi Secretariat and office.
Only the Supreme Court will ensure the release of prisoners
Now this matter is also in the Supreme Court, and the court will decide whether the Chief Minister lodged in jail can take a decision on sensitive matters like remission of sentence or not?
On one hand, the Supreme Court has reserved the decision on Arvind Kejriwal’s bail plea, and on the other hand, the hearing on the remission plea has been postponed for two weeks. Arvind Kejriwal has already got interim bail from the Supreme Court in the ED case, while the court’s stand is awaited in the CBI case. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been in jail since his arrest on March 21 in the Delhi liquor scam.
In the Supreme Court, a bench of Justice Abhay S. Oak and Justice Augustine George Masih has asked ASG Aishwarya Bhati, who is representing the Central Government in the case, to take instructions from the government so that the situation regarding the decision of the jailed Chief Minister in such cases can be clear.
On behalf of the government, ASG Aishwarya Bhati and senior advocate Archana Pathak Dave have argued so far that till now no such example has come to light in which a Chief Minister lodged in jail has taken a decision on the remission petition of a prisoner.
The Supreme Court says that delay in such cases is not right. Also, the court has said that if there is any problem, then the court can use the privilege given to it under Article 142 of the Constitution. Under Article 142, the Supreme Court has been given special powers in the Constitution to take decisions in such cases.
The file was not sent to the Lieutenant Governor
A case regarding Delhi school children not getting books had reached the Delhi High Court, in which the court had expressed similar concerns. In that too, a formal recommendation from the Chief Minister was necessary for approval by the LG of Delhi.
In the case of release of prisoners, the recommendation of the Chief Minister is mandatory for the approval of the LG as per the rules. That is why the Supreme Court is asking why Kejriwal is not able to see the files related to the release of prisoners, what is the hindrance in his work. So that these files can be sent to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi for further action.
By the way, the Central Government has already brought an ordinance giving the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi the power to make many kinds of appointments, for which there will be no need to send it to the President – it remains to be seen what order the Supreme Court gives in the matter of release of prisoners?
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