In review, govt rules out parole & furlough for hardened criminals

MUMBAI: The home department led by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has made

parole

and furlough rules more stringent, so those convicted of attempt to rape with murder and smuggling of narcotic and psychotropic substances will not be eligible.


A bureaucrat said that after the Pallavi Purkayastha murder accused jumped parole, the department drafted the rules to ensure that jumping of parole or furlough will be impossible. “Hardened criminals will not be eligible for parole or furlough,’’ he said.

He said that on February 23, 2012, the department had published comprehensive Prisons (Bombay Furlough) Amendment Rules, followed by

Maharashtra Prisons

(

Bombay Furlough

and Parole) Rules, on December 1, 2015, and on August 26, 2016, the rules were amended.

“We superseded earlier notifications and published the new Maharashtra Prisons (Mumbai Furlough and Parole) Amendment Rules, 2018. The new rules are more stringent and care has been taken to ensure that prisoners of 21categories are not eligible for furlough,’’ he said.

After

Sajjad Mogul

, convicted of Pallavi’s murder, jumped parole, the department amended the rules on August 26, 2016, but it was found that still there were deficiencies in the new rules. “In the earlier rules, there was a lack of clarity on categories of prisoners eligible for parole/furlough. We have cleared all doubts now,’’ he said.

Among the 21 categories, prisoners considered dangerous or those involved in serious prison violence, like assault, riots, mutiny or escape, smuggling of narcotics and psychotropic substances and attempt to rape with murder, will not be eligible for furlough. The remaining categories include prisoners sentenced to death, those sentenced for offences such as terrorist crimes, mutiny against state, kidnapping for ransom and those involved in sexual offences against minor and human-trafficking.

For the first time, the department defined emergency parole. All convicted prisoners, except foreigners and prisoners with death sentence, may be eligible for it for 14 days for the death of a grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, spouse, son, daughter, brother or sister, and marriage of son, daughter, brother or sister. No extension can be granted to emergency parole.

Before release on furlough, the prisoner will have to give a declaration that he will abide by the conditions of the furlough and if he defies them, he will be arrested without a warrant and remanded to undergo the unexpired portion of his sentence.