GEETHA MALAR Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present writ petition has been filed to direct the respondents to prematurely release the mother of the petitioner, who is confined at the Special Prison for Women, Puzhal.

(2.) The petitioner's mother, who was convicted for the offences under Sec. 498(A) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sec. 306 IPC and sentenced to undergo one year and five years imprisonment respectively, which sentences were ordered to run concurrently, through a judgment dtd. 15/2/2021 passed in S.C.No.277/2016, seeks for premature release under the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM), which is a special remission scheme for prisoners extended on 15/8/2022, 26/1/2023 and 15/8/2023. The petitioner's representation in this regard was not acted upon within a reasonable time, which had prompted her to file the present Writ Petition.

(3.) The respondents, in their counter affidavit, have stated that for a prisoner to seek for premature release under the AKAM Scheme, he/she must have completed 21/2 years of sentence as on 14/8/2023 and since the prisoner had completed only 2 years, 5 months and 29 days, she is ineligible for the claim. As per Clause 3(i) of the Guidelines for granting Special Remission to Prisoners, the women convicts of 50 years of age and above, who have completed 50% of their total sentence period [without counting the period of general remission earned], may be eligible for the special remission under the AKAM Scheme. In the counter affidavit, the period of sentence has been computed from 15/2/2021, which is the date on which the convict prisoner was admitted to the prison and had accordingly come to the conclusion that she had completed only 2 years, 5 months and 29 days as on 14/8/2023. In other words, she has become ineligible for premature release, owing to shortage of one day.