CM Soren holds sentence review board meet, 51 life-term prisoners to be released

Ranchi: The 35th meeting of the Jharkhand State Sentence Review Board, chaired by Chief Minister Hemant Soren, was held at the Chief Minister’s residential office in Ranchi. In this session, consensus was reached on the release of 51 life-term prisoners from various jails across the state.

A total of 103 cases were thoroughly reviewed during the meeting. These included 37 new cases and 66 earlier cases that had been previously rejected by the board. Each case was discussed in detail, with special attention given to the nature of the crimes committed, opinions from courts, district police superintendents, jail superintendents, and probation officers.

Chief Minister Soren carefully examined the files of each recommended prisoner, seeking comprehensive information regarding their conduct in jail, age, health condition, family background, and educational status. After detailed deliberation with senior officials, he gave his approval for the release of 51 inmates.

He emphasised that prisoners who have served over 14 years of their life sentence, especially those who are elderly and have shown good conduct in jail, should be given a chance to reintegrate into society. He directed officials to motivate these individuals to begin a better social life post-release.

Soren also acknowledged that some prisoners recommended for release were suffering from serious illnesses or mental health issues. He instructed that a clear plan be developed to provide them with necessary medical treatment, and that decisions on their release should be guided by medical reports. He further directed that all released prisoners must be linked with welfare schemes for social security.

Officials informed the Chief Minister that since 2019, a total of 619 prisoners have been released through board recommendations, out of which 558 have undergone physical verification by the department. The process is ongoing for the remaining 61 individuals. Out of those released, 470 have already been connected to government welfare schemes such as old age pension, widow pension, ration cards, Ayushman cards, housing schemes, MGNREGA job cards, and e-Shram registration. The rest are being gradually linked to these schemes.

The meeting was attended by Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister Avinash Kumar, Home Secretary Vandana Dadel, DGP Anurag Gupta, Legal Adviser Neeraj Kumar Srivastava, IG Prisons Sudarshan Prasad Mandal, Judicial Commissioner Anil Kumar Mishra, Chief Probation Officer and other senior officials.