Life convicts behind bars for over 10 years should get bail if awaiting decision on appeals: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Thursday said that life convicts who have been behind bars for over 10 years, and whose appeals are not being taken up in the near future, should be granted bail.

The apex court also took the first step towards passing such an order by asking all high courts to collect data on convicts serving life terms who have been in custody for over 10 years.

The court was hearing a suo motu (on its own) petition in which it is considering the issue of life convicts awaiting decision on their appeals.

Indicating the way forward to deal with the issue, a bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and AS Oka said, “We are of the view that all persons who have completed 10 years of sentence and their appeal is not to be heard in the near proximity, with no accentuating condition, should be enlarged on bail.”

In order to carry out this exercise, the bench added, “Data has to be compiled of such persons who are in custody for over 10 years for these persons to be considered for bail pending consideration of their appeals.”

The court asked all high courts to compile this data and also requested them to provide details of life convicts who have served 14 years of their sentence so that they can be considered for premature release as per the existing remission policies in states.

In the suo motu petition, the bench was considering the situation in six high courts — Allahabad, Madhya Pradesh, Bombay, Patna, Rajasthan and Orissa — with the maximum number of life convicts. However, the court extended its directions to all high courts.

Compiling a note containing the responses received from the six high courts, advocate Gaurav Agrawal, assisting the court as amicus curiae (friend of the court), said, “If the convict has undergone more than 10 years imprisonment in life sentence cases, unless there are reasons to deny bail, in which case, the appeals may be taken up for hearing on priority basis.” In such cases, he recommended release the of convicts on bail, unless there were exceptional circumstances for not granting bail.

The court accepted this suggestion by adding that if the convict is delaying hearing of the appeal, a different view may be taken, but short of that, all cases of life convicts in jail for over 10 years with their appeals pending should be granted bail.

Agrawal further stated in his note that high courts should be asked to identify life convicts who have completed 14 years in custody in order to refer their cases to the concerned governments for their premature release within a fixed time period.

The Patna high court indicated that more than 4,000 convicts are in custody whose appeals are pending before the high court. Of these, 363 have completed 14 years in custody. The Orissa high court, too, presented figures suggesting that in the state, 225 convicts have been in custody for more than 10 years and 51 have remained in jail for over 14 years.

In Uttar Pradesh, the amicus pointed out, there are 2,853 appeals pending in the high court where 3,234 convicts have been in custody for more than 10 years. Of these, 385 convicts have spent over 14 years and are eligible for remission.

On Wednesday, while considering the same issue, the bench took up the case of convicts who were sentenced to a fixed term below 10 years. In those cases, based on Agrawal’s recommendation, the court directed that convicts who have undergone 40% sentence should be eligible for premature release on grounds of good conduct under the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958, if they are first-time offenders.