Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: A division bench of the Gauhati High Court comprising Justice Michael Zothankhuma and Justice Anjan Moni Kalita has ordered the government of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram to file their respective affidavits stating the number of convicts whose cases for remission have been rejected by them and the reasons for rejection. The court also asked the state governments to inform it that they had communicated with the convicts whose remissions have been rejected. The court further stated that it asked the states to inform the convicts whose remissions have been rejected that they have the right to challenge this rejection.
The court asked the four state governments to file their affidavits in this regard by the next date of hearing – December 1, 2026.
“We have also been furnished the minutes of the July 28, 2026 meeting of the Assam State Level Review Board, which examined the cases of 9 life convicts for premature release/rejection. The meeting minutes show that out of the 9 convicts, 2 have been recommended for release on remission. The state of Assam shall ensure that the rejection of the grant of remission of those convicts mentioned in the above meeting minutes should be communicated to the persons concerned, and they should be told that they have a right to challenge the reasons for the rejection of their release on remission,” the bench said.
In terms of the orders issued on April 25, 2025, and November 4, 2025, by the Supreme Court in cases SMWP (Criminal) No. 4/2021 and SLP (Criminal) No. 529/2021, the states and union territories were to have a policy dealing with the grant of remissions in terms of Section 432 Cr.PC/Section 473 of the BNSS.
“We have been informed that all four states have a remission policy in place and that several persons have been released on remission based on the policies formulated by the respective states. We conclude that the Supreme Court, in its judgement on February 18, 2025, passed in SMWP (Criminal) No. 4/2021 and SLP (Crl) No. 529/2021, held that the order granting or refusing the relief of remission must contain brief reasons. The order containing reasons should be immediately communicated to the convicts through the office of the concerned prison. The copies thereof should also be forwarded to the secretaries of the concerned District Legal Services Authorities. Further, it is the duty of the prison authorities to inform the convict that he has a right to challenge the order of rejection for the grant of remission,” the bench said.
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