Remission
Remission:
- A sentence that ends completely at a reduced point is called a remission.
- Remission preserves the essence of the punishment while shortening its term; the remainder of the sentence does not have to be fulfilled.
- The prisoner is assigned a date of release, and on that date, he will no longer be considered an inmate for legal purposes.
- But if any of the terms of the remission are broken, the whole sentence will be served by the offender, and the remission will be cancelled.
- Inmates may be released early or prematurely based on the total number of days they have accrued in remission, which is subtracted from their sentence.
- For instance, after serving nine years of their initial sentence, a prisoner sentenced to ten years in jail with one year gained in remission may be eligible for release.
- elements taken into account by the Supreme Court when determining a remission claim;
- The crime’s effects
- Possibilities and likelihood of reoffending
- The intention behind the prisoner’s prolonged incarceration
- family’s socioeconomic circumstances.
Articles of the Constitution:
- Article 72: The President may commute, remit, or postpone any person’s sentence, as well as offer pardons, reprieves, respites, or remissions of penalty.
- Article 161: The Governor may commute, suspend, remit, or award pardons, reprieves, respites, or remissions of penalty.
Bilkis Bano Situation:
- Bilkis Bano, a pregnant lady at the time, was brutally gang-raped during the 2002 Gujarat riots, and a mob also slaughtered seven members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter.
- The case was probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after protracted judicial proceedings.
- After receiving death threats against Bilkis in 2004, the Supreme Court ordered the central government to designate a special public prosecutor and shifted the trial from Gujarat to Mumbai.
- The 2008 Mumbai court verdict that found 11 people guilty of gang rape and murder was a major step in the right direction for Bilkis Bano’s legal case.
- However, the Gujarati government granted remission to these 11 prisoners in August 2022, which resulted in their release.
The Supreme Court’s ruling:
- The Gujarati government unlawfully decided the remission application, the court ruled.
- According to established law, this authority belongs to the state government in which a criminal is prosecuted and condemned.
- Thus, in this instance, the Maharashtra government is the proper authority.
States with life sentences and remissions:
- A life sentence basically indicates a prisoner will be imprisoned for the entirety of their life.
- According to the law, lifers who have completed a minimum of 14 years in prison may be eligible for remission.
- Life without parole for those convicted of serious crimes like murder and rape may be exempt depending on the offence.
- Most jurisdictions require heinous crime offenders to serve longer minimum sentences before they can be considered for early release. For example, in Maharashtra, a lifer convicted of communal violence or gang rape must serve at least 28 years in prison.
- Gujarat: Those convicted of murder and rape are not eligible for any form of remission at all.
- Murder convicts from Goa, Mizoram, and Odisha are not eligible for regular remission.
- Other leave arrangements like furlough and parole are also being excluded based on offences; these exclusions were implemented in Delhi in 2010 and Jammu & Kashmir in 2020.
Way Ahead:
- Longer jail sentences prior to being eligible for remission and offense-based limitations on remission raise normative concerns about prisons as places for rehabilitation.
- Due to severe congestion, securitization, overworked jail staff, and other issues, our prison system urgently needs to change.
- For convicts, early release options like parole, furlough, and remission provide a glimmer of hope.
- In addition to giving prisoners something to look forward to, these processes are essential to their reformation process.
- They provide inmates with the possibility of recovery, reintegration into society, and life reconstruction.
- It is impossible to predict when a prisoner will pass away, so laws that assist impose defined durations on otherwise indeterminate life sentences for lifers deserve a shot at reform.
Examining exclusionary rules is necessary in a criminal system where remission is a crucial chance for reform.
