Rajasthan Diwas: Ashok Gehlot government to release around 1,200 prisoners

The Ashok Gehlot government will release around 1,200 prisoners, serving sentences in various jails of the state, ahead of the Rajasthan Day celebrations on March 30. The decision was taken on Chief Minister Gehlot’s initiative, an official statement said on Saturday. The prisoners who are proposed to be released include the ones who have completed most of their sentences with good conduct in jails, the statement said.

The prisoners to be released also include those who have been suffering from serious ailments illnesses or are of advanced age. The decision was taken after the chief minister held a meeting with the Jail Department’s officials at his residence on Saturday night, the statement said. It quoted Gehlot as saying that the prisoners who are in the advanced age group or suffering from serious diseases are to be released so that they can avoid the risk of corona infection in jails.

Among ailing prisoners, the benefit of the premature release would be available to those suffering from cancer, AIDS, leprosy and other serious ailments or those who are blind and depend on others for their daily activities, the statement said. Elderly men aged 70 years or more and women aged 65 years or more and who have completed at least one-third of their sentence would be released, the statement said. This benefit will not be available to the convicts serving jail terms for offences like rape, honour killing, acid attack and mob lynching, it said.

Those convicted of offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences, the Arms Act, the National Security Act, the NDPS Act, the Excise Act, the PCPNDT Act, the Explosive Substances Act and the Essential Commodities Act too would be deprived of this benefit, the statement said. There will be no relief to the criminals involved in heinous crimes of 28 different categories, it added.