Reasons for rejection of remission must be supplied to convicts: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a slew of directions to ensure that convicts are aware of their options when it comes to applying for permanent remission (premature release from prison) or challenging the rejection of such applications [In Re: Policy Strategy for Grant of Bail]..Among other directions, a Bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih made it clear that if a remission application is rejected, the reasons for such rejection must be communicated to the convict. "All the States shall ensure that orders of rejection of applications for grant of permanent remission are communicated to the concerned convicts ... We make it clear that the States shall ensure that the rejection orders are communicated in terms of the above directions within a period of one week from the date of passing of the rejection orders; If the rejection orders do not contain reasons, the reasons, if any, recorded by the Sentence Review Board or a similar Authority, shall also be forwarded along with the copy of the rejection orders," the Court said in its order..The Court added that rejection orders must be forwarded to the concerned legal services authority, which can thereafter ensure that convicts are told about their remedy to challenge the said rejection.The Court clarified that remission earlier granted to convicts cannot be automatically cancelled. It further warned the States/Union Territories (UTs) to ensure that they do not impose stereotypical conditions while granting remission to convicts."States shall not impose stereotype conditions while granting permanent remission without application of mind to the facts of each case. The conditions to be applied must depend upon the facts of each case," the Court said..Notably, Court also directed that copies of the remission policy applicable in the concerned State or UT must be readily available, including in English, so that all convicts are aware of their option to apply for remission."Copies of the existing policies governing the grant of permanent remission shall be made available in each and every prison in the States, and the copies thereof with their English translation shall be uploaded on the appropriate website of the Government. A direction is issued to the Jail Superintendents/Jail Authorities to ensure that the information about the existence of the policies is furnished to all the convicts who are in the zone of consideration; (ii) We also direct that whenever there are modifications in the policies, the modified policies shall be made available in terms of the above direction," the Court said.The Court went on to disapprove the practice of not processing remission applications by convicts on the ground of their appeal against conviction is pending before a court."We make it clear that this is no ground not to consider the applications for the grant of permanent remission. There may be some justification for the States to keep the applications pending in those cases where the appeals preferred by the State Government for enhancement of sentence/acquittal are pending," the Court said..The Bench was hearing a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) petition on the grant of bail in cases where appeals filed by prisoners against their criminal conviction have remained pending for long. In such long pending cases, the Court had earlier called for enlarging the accused on bail unless there exist special circumstances for not doing so..Enact separate Bail Act to streamline grant of bails: Supreme Court .In the course of these hearings, the aspect of remission was also taken up by the Court. Last month, the Court ordered all State governments and UTs to ensure that a copy of decisions on remission applications must be immediately provided to the convict. In Tuesday's order, the Court added remission rejection orders must be communicated within a week's time. The Court further indicated that it will consider whether a person who is eligible for remission can be considered for the same automatically, without making him file an official remission application. It has asked Amicus Curiae Liz Mathew to submit suggestions on this aspect.The matter will now be considered on December 3..[Read Order].[Live Courtroom Coverage]