Parole and Furlough

Introduction

Fundamental Rights do not flee the persons as he enters the prison although they may suffer shrinkage necessitated by incarceration.

For ensuring the safety of rights of the prisoners, there are two mechanisms for allowing them temporary refuge from prison, these mechanisms are namely

1. Parole
2. Furlough

Parole  the temporary or permanent release of a prisoner before the expiry of a sentence, on the promise of good behavior.

Furlough is a temporary leave of absence given to a prisoner who is serving a jail term, after which the convict is supposed to return to the prison.

 

Parole/Furlough: Guidelines 2010 ^[1]

• The Lt. Governor, GNCT Delhi has approved the following guidelines to be followed in matters of parole/furlough. The guidelines will apply to convicts i.e. those who have been convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction of offences under various laws and are undergoing sentences in prison.
• The present guidelines may be called the “Parole/Furlough: Guidelines 2010” and shall come into force immediately.
•  The present guidelines are intended to regulate applications for parole and to ensure that they are considered in a fair and transparent manner. The guidelines have been framed to achieve the objectives of parole which could amongst others :-
  • To enhance continuity with family members.
  • To maintain a minimum level of self-worth and confidence.
  •  To develop a positive attitude and interest in life.
  • To combat inner stress.
  • To protect social ties.

 

Kinds Of Parole

There shall be two kinds of parole to which a convict would be eligible:

(i) Custody parole and

(ii ) Regular parole.

 

Custody Parole

“Custody parole” would be granted in emergent circumstances as follows:-

1. Death of a family member;
2. Marriage of a family member;
3.  Serious illness of a family member; or
4. Any other emergent circumstances.

• “Custody Parole” will be granted by an order in writing, issued by the Superintendent of Jail, for a period of not more than six hours, excluding the time taken to reach destination and return to Jail.
• The prisoner would be escorted to the place of visit and return therefrom, ensuring the safe custody of the prisoner. Such prisoner would be deemed to be in prison for the said period which would also be treated as period spent in prison.

 

Regular Parole

It would be open to the Government to consider applications for parole on other grounds such as :-

• Serious illness of a family member;
• Critical conditions in the family on account of accident or death of a family member;
• Marriage of any member of the family of the convict;
• Delivery of a child by the wife of the convict if there is no other family member to take care of the spouse at home;
•  Serious damage to life or property of the family of the convict including damage caused by natural calamities;
• To maintain family and social ties;
• To pursue the filing of a Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court of India against a judgment delivered by the High Court convicting or upholding the conviction, as the case may be.

In order to be eligible for release on parole:-

• A convict must have served at least one year in prison excluding any period covered by remission;
• The conduct in prison must have been uniformly good;
•  During the period of release on parole, if granted earlier, the convict should not have committed any crime;
• The convict should not have violated any terms and conditions of the parole granted previously;
• A minimum of six months ought to have elapsed from the date of termination of the previous parole.

The following prisoners/convicts would not be eligible for being released on parole:-

• Convicts whose release on parole is considered dangerous or a threat to national security or there exists any other reasonable ground such as a pending investigation in a case involving serious crime;
•  Prisoners who have been involved in crimes and offences against the State, like sedition or who have been found to be instigating serious violation of prison discipline;
•  Prisoners who have escaped from jail.
• The prisoner is not a citizen of India;

 

Procedure For Disposal Of Applications For Parole

The following procedure would be followed while processing the application for parole. An application for grant of parole may be submitted by the convict or relative to the Superintendent of Jail;

•  The application must contain the following details:
  •  Name of the applicant;
  •  Name of the father of the applicant;
  • Address of the applicant;
  • In case the application is being moved by a relative, the details of relationship with the convict;
  • Family details of the convict if known to the applicant (if the applicant is not a member of the family of the convict);
  • Last confirmed address of the convict;
  •  Reasons for seeking parole.
  • While disposing off  an application for parole, the competent authority will assess the behavior and trustworthiness of the convict on the one hand as well as any adverse repercussions which may exist if parole is granted. The authority will act fairly and state reasons if the application is rejected.
  • The Superintendent of Jail will maintain a Parole Register. Upon receipt of the application, the Superintendent of Jail would make an entry in the Parole Register immediately.
  • The details of such entries would be communicated by the Superintendent of Jail to the Commissioner of Police, Delhi or Director General of Police of the State concerned as the case may be.
  • The Superintendent would verify the grounds stated in the application upon an oral interview with the prisoner.
  • The Superintendent of Jail would then forward a copy of the application to the concerned police station for its report.
  • The report from the police station will be based upon a fair enquiry.
  • The report by the police station (if within NCR) shall be furnished by the concerned police station in the format prescribed in the schedule, within 7 days from the date of receipt of the copy of the said application at the police station.
  • If the report is not received within 7 days, from the concerned police station, the Superintendent of Jail will send a communication in writing to the Deputy Commissioner of Police of the concerned District with a copy to the concerned police station In case verification report is required from the police of any other State, the same should be sought from the concerned Deputy Commissioner of Police/Senior Superintendent of Police of the District concerned. The said report shall be furnished by the concerned authority in accordance with the form prescribed in the Schedule within 10 days of the receipt of the copy of the application for parole.
  • In case a report from the concerned police station through the Deputy Commissioner of Police/Senior Superintendent of Police of the District is not received within 10 days, the Superintendent of the Jail shall forward a communication in writing to the Director General of Police of the State concerned for submission of the report within 7 working days from the date of receipt of the said communication.
  •  If no report is received by the Superintendent of Jail within the periods aforementioned, it shall be presumed that the concerned police authorities have no objection to parole being granted.
  • While rejecting an application for parole, the order shall contain reasons.

 

Furlough

A prisoner who is sentenced to 5 years or more or rigorous imprisonment but has undergone 3 years of imprisonment excluding remission can be released on furlough. A prisoner would be entitled to 7 weeks of furlough in a year. The first spell could consist of 3 weeks, while the subsequent spells would consist of 2 weeks each.

In order to be eligible to obtain furlough, the prisoner must fulfill the following criteria:-

• Good conduct in the prison and should have earned three Annual Good Conduct Remissions’ and continues to maintain good conduct;
•  The prisoner should not be a habitual offender;
• The prisoner should be a citizen of India.
• The prisoner should not have been convicted of robbery, dacoity, kidnapping, abduction, rape and extortion;
•  The prisoner should not have been convicted of any offence relating to any offence against the State such as sedition;
• The release of the prisoner should not be considered dangerous or deleterious to the interest of national security or there exists reasonable ground to believe that the convict is involved in a pending investigation in a case involving serious crime;
• The convict is not such a person whose presence is considered highly dangerous or prejudicial to the public peace and tranquility by the District Magistrate by his home district.

 

While forwarding an application for furlough, the Superintendent of Jail will submit the following:-

1. Name of the convict
2. Father’s name
3.  Last address
4. Conduct in prison
5.  Nominal roll
6. The sanctioning authority for furlough would be the Director General, Prisons with an intimation to the Home Department, Government of NCT.
7. The cases of furlough will be completed on a fast-track basis by the Superintendent of Jail (in coordination with the Department of Home) within a period of 2 weeks.
8.  It would be open to the competent authority to impose suitable conditions while granting furlough in exceptional cases.
9.  In the event a prisoner being released on furlough belongs to any other State, then the local police station of that State shall be requested to keep a watch on the prisoner so released.
10. While disposing of an application for furlough, the competent authority will assess the behavior and trustworthiness of the convict on the one hand as well as any adverse repercussions which may exist if parole is granted. The authority will act fairly and state reasons if the application is rejected.
11. The period of furlough will count as sentence undergone unless the prisoner commits an offence during the period he is released on furlough/parole in which event the period will not be counted as sentence undergone.
12. Any of the following punishments may be awarded to the prisoner for overstaying the furlough :
13. Warning
14. Withholding of concessions of either interviews or letters or both for a maximum period of six months.
15.  A deduction of upto 5 days remission for each day of overstay.
16. Furlough period should not be counted towards sentence i.e. the prisoner should undergo furlough period on return from furlough.
17.  The Superintendent of Jail may award one or more of the punishments mentioned above at his discretion.

 

Difference  in Parole and Furlough

Furlough is a matter of right but parole is not. Furlough is to be granted to the prisoner periodically irrespective of any particular reason merely to enable him to retain family and social ties and avoid ill-effects of continuous prison life. The period of furlough is treated as remission (reduction) of sentence.

 

Conclusion

The convicted persons have to undergo great deal of harassment and torture and torture which is way more barbaric than facing trials in the Courts governed by the  “efficient” Indian Judicial system. Emphasizing on the need of humane treatment of prisoners and protection of their basic human rights, the Supreme Court in Sunil Batra II. Hence such mechanisms come to the aid of the jail inmates.

[1] Approved by the Home Department, Government of NCT of Delhi vide order bearing No. F.18/91-2009/HG dated 17.02.2010

[2] (1983) 3 SCC 488.

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