Clerical errors deny life convicts early release
Shanmughasundaram.J@timesgroup.com
Vellore: Clerical errors and careless handling of case bundles may cost some life convicts their freedom.
Several life convicts were eligible for ‘premature’ release, a decision taken by the state government to mark the centenary year of AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran and the 70th birth anniversary of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa on February 24. But wrong entry of vital information such as date of birth in the FIR and chargesheets and missing case bundles may force them to languish in prison.
Officials in the prison department said around 1,600 life convicts from nine central prisons and three special prisons for women in the state were shortlisted for release. “Though the government’s announcement was a ray of hope for hundreds of life convicts, it was shortlived for some,” said a prison official.
Vijayan of Kottayam was one of them, said his advocate Rajaguru. Vijayan, a former constable of Railway Protection Force, was sentenced to life for murdering his colleague on October 1, 1986. The Jolarpet police entered his age as 27 in the FIR and it was retained in the chargesheet. After the court awarded him life imprisonment, he was lodged in the Vellore Central Prison on August 6, 2010. “Going by his school-leaving certificate and voter ID card, he is 60 years, two months and 22 days old. But according to the committal warrant, which entered his age wrongly, he is
58. He has no chance of securing the premature release, though he is an eligible candidate,” said the advocate.
Apart from this, missing case bundles from record rooms in the courts have made things difficult for prisoners to get premature release. “Though we have age proof of the inmate, we should make the correction in the committal warrant. The case bundles that are 25 years old are missing,” said the advocate.
Shanmughasundaram.J@timesgroup.com
Vellore: Clerical errors and careless handling of case bundles may cost some life convicts their freedom.
Several life convicts were eligible for ‘premature’ release, a decision taken by the state government to mark the centenary year of AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran and the 70th birth anniversary of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa on February 24. But wrong entry of vital information such as date of birth in the FIR and chargesheets and missing case bundles may force them to languish in prison.
Officials in the prison department said around 1,600 life convicts from nine central prisons and three special prisons for women in the state were shortlisted for release. “Though the government’s announcement was a ray of hope for hundreds of life convicts, it was shortlived for some,” said a prison official.
Vijayan of Kottayam was one of them, said his advocate Rajaguru. Vijayan, a former constable of Railway Protection Force, was sentenced to life for murdering his colleague on October 1, 1986. The Jolarpet police entered his age as 27 in the FIR and it was retained in the chargesheet. After the court awarded him life imprisonment, he was lodged in the Vellore Central Prison on August 6, 2010. “Going by his school-leaving certificate and voter ID card, he is 60 years, two months and 22 days old. But according to the committal warrant, which entered his age wrongly, he is
58. He has no chance of securing the premature release, though he is an eligible candidate,” said the advocate.
Apart from this, missing case bundles from record rooms in the courts have made things difficult for prisoners to get premature release. “Though we have age proof of the inmate, we should make the correction in the committal warrant. The case bundles that are 25 years old are missing,” said the advocate.
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