Stalin’s poser to govt on release of 67 prisoners

The DMK working president wondered why such a big announcement was not made in the Assembly when it is in session, which should have been the case by convention.

Even as Law Minister CVe Shanmugam claimed it to be a continuous task and it does not require to be announced in the House, Stalin pointed out that it was the first time the state was releasing prisoners after the AIADMK regime has accrued to power.

Speaker P Dhanapal, who came to the rescue of Shanmugam, informed the LoP that Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had already announced its decision in one of the MGR centenary celebration meeting in Dindigul last year. Shanmugam said that the release of prisoners being proposed by the government was a continuous process. He explained that Governor Banwarilal Purohit must approve of the proposed release of prisoners and that this was not the final batch to be released. “It would continue,” he added.

“Unlike the release of prisoners during your (DMK) regime (2006-11), now it is being done on a case by case basis as per Supreme Court guidelines.

In the Central prisons, committees were set up to give recommendations for remission of sentence. Eligibility of prisoners were based on factors like the length of their detention – it was 10 years in case of lifers and 20 years in some cases and the category of those having critical illness were also being considered.

The government on Monday announced the pre-mature release of 67 life convicts, who have completed 10 years of imprisonment as on February 25, in commemoration of the birth centenary of former chief minister MG Ramachandran.

The release would be in accordance with Article 161 of the Constitution, which empowers the Governor to grant pardons and to commute sentences and as per guidelines of the Supreme Court and High Courts on the issue of pre-mature release, two Government Orders which detailed eligibility criteria were issued.