On Thursday, the Supreme Court of India suggested that all prisoners who have served at least 10 years of their sentence and whose appeals are not likely to be heard soon should be granted bail—unless there are strong reasons to deny it.
This observation came from a Bench led by Justices SK Kaul and Abhay Sreenivas Oka. They were hearing a group of petitions filed by life convicts with appeals still pending in various High Courts.
The Court proposed two important steps:
- Bail for convicts who have completed 10 years of their sentence, unless there are other valid reasons to deny it.
- Premature release for those who have served 14 years, even if their appeals are still pending.
The court stressed the urgent need to reduce overcrowding in jails and said this process must begin immediately.
To implement this, the Supreme Court gave High Courts and State Legal Services Committees four months to identify eligible prisoners and carry out the directions. The matter will be reviewed again in the last week of January 2023.
It also clarified that these directions will apply similarly across all High Courts in the country.
Case Title: Sonadhar vs State of Chhattisgarh
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