"What are your (Uttar Pradesh) rules for remission?" the Supreme Court asked the UP counsel
The Supreme Court today asked the Uttar Pradesh government to apprise it whether the state has made some guidelines or rules for granting remission to convicts lodged in jails.
A bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur, S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta asked this question to the counsel appearing for Uttar Pradesh while it was hearing a plea filed by four persons who have served around 25 years in jail after being convicted in a dacoity case.
"What are your (Uttar Pradesh) rules for remission?", the bench asked the counsel.
The counsel said that earlier the state government had come out with a rule which said that convicts who have been in jail for 25 years would be eligible for grant of remission and be released from the prison.
The rule was challenged in the high court which had quashed it, he said.
The lawyer also said that one of the four petitioners before the apex court has died while three have served 25 years in jail.
The bench granted bail to the three convicts -- Rajjan, Hira Lal and Rambha -- and asked the Uttar Pradesh government to place before it the rules for grant of remission to convicts lodged in jails in the state.
The top court said that since the three convicts have already served 25 years in jail, it was an appropriate case to grant them bail.