Supreme Court asks NALSA to consider issuing uniform SOP for convicts to secure premature release

The Bench directed the senior jail superintendent of Agra central prison to inform the convict of his right to submit an application for premature release in accordance with the applicable rules and regulations.

The Supreme Court has asked the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) to consider issuing a uniform nationwide standard operating procedure (SOP) for protecting the rights of convicts to secure “premature release” from jail in accordance with the law. The apex court dismissed the pleas challenging a Allahabad High Court February 2019 verdict confirming the conviction and life term awarded to the petitioner in a murder case. According to the custody certificate issued by the Agra jail authority, the actual sentence undergone by the convict is around 16 years without remission, the court noted. A Bench of Justices D. Y. Chandrachud and M. R. Shah also directed the senior jail superintendent of Agra central prison to inform the convict of his right to submit an application for premature release in accordance with the applicable rules and regulations. “NALSA is requested to consider issuing a uniform country-wide SOP (standard operating procedure) for protecting the rights of similarly placed convicts to secure pre-mature release in accordance with the provisions of law,” the Bench said in its order passed on Friday.