Thiruvananthapuram: As a reply to the Abhaya Case Action Council convener Jomon Puthenpurackal, the Kerala State Legal Services Authority (KELSA) has declared that the high-powered committee had never confirmed the 90-day special parole granted to life convicts Father Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sephy, who were held at the Poojapura Central Jail and the Attakulangara Women’s Prison.
The prisons department previously had said it granted parole based on the recommendations of the high-powered committee constituted by the Supreme Court.
As a result of his letter to KELSA executive chairman and High Court Judge C T Ravikumar, Jomon received a letter. In its letter, KELSA stated it did not recommend parole for life convicts.
More than 1,500 prisoners, including two life convicts, were released by the Department of Prisons as part of its efforts to decongest prisons following Covid II.
Additionally, DGP (prisons) Rishiraj Singh mentioned in a reply to Jomon that he had granted special parole based on the recommendation of the high-powered committee and considering the age of the convicts.
On May 11, 2021, parole was granted to the two murder convicts, who were sentenced to double life imprisonment and rigorous life imprisonment respectively.
The committee had only identified a class of prisoners, taking into account the gravity of their offenses, for release to decongest the prisons due to Covid spread.
The letter from KELSA clarified that the high-powered committee had only recommended the release of prisoners involved in crimes punishable up to 10 years, and that too with certain exceptions. The state government illegally granted parole to the Abhaya convicts before they had served five months in jail after the court sentenced them to life imprisonment, Jomon said in a statement.
Furthermore, he noted that the bail petitions filed in the High Court by Fr Thomas Kottur and Sr Sephy were adjourned five times in the past seven months by a division bench headed by Justice K Vinod Chandran without being granted bail.
There have been allegations that even the general rule stating that the government should not grant parole if a court petition is filed for the accused to be granted bail was not considered when the government granted parole to the accused in the asylum case. It has been alleged that the state government has not even considered the general rule that ‘the government should not grant parole if there is a petition in court’ if the accused or convicted request bail at the court, Jomon’s statement stated.
S Santosh, DIG (prisons) said that the Department of Prisons had granted bail to a number of life convicts and had not shown any favors to those convicted in the Abhaya case. He also clarified that the department has only followed the guidelines issued by the High Court and the state government last year.
‘During the second wave, we followed the guidelines issued last year that any male or female prisoner above the age of 60 is eligible for 90-day parole. As per the Supreme Court’s instructions, we can follow the same rules this year as well,’ Santosh said.
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