Selected prisoners to be released on the 75th anniversary of Indian Independence

Persons involved in some serious crimes will not be eligible for special remission.

Updated on: Mar 22, 2022, 20:29:57 IST

By Shishir Gupta, New Delhi

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The Narendra Modi government has decided to give a special remission to certain categories of prisoners and release them in three phases -- on August 15, 2022, (75th anniversary of Independence), January 26, 2023, (Republic Day) and August 15, 2023, to commemorate the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav'. "The remission scheme is intended to ensure prison discipline and good conduct on the part of prisoners and to encourage learning and better work culture with the prospect of early release from prison as an incentive," according to officials in the knowledge of the matter..

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Red Fort on August 15, 2021.

Persons involved in some serious crimes, however, will not be eligible for special remission.

The categories of prisoners, who have consistently maintained good conduct during their term in prison, will be eligible for the special remission.

Who will be eligible for the special remission?

>Women convicts of 50 years of age and above who have completed 50 per cent of their total sentence period (without counting the period of general remission earned).

>Transgender convicts of 50 years of age and above who have completed 50 per cent of their total sentence period (without counting the period of general remission earned).

>Male convicts of 60 years of age and above who have completed 50 per cent of their total sentence period (without counting the period of general remission earned).

>Physically challenged/disabled convicts with 70 per cent disability and more (duly certified by a medical board) who have completed 50 per cent of their total sentence period (without counting the period of general remission earned).

>Terminally ill convicts (duly certified by a medical board).

>Convicted prisoners who have completed two-third (66 per cent) of their total sentence period (without counting the period of general remission earned).

>Poor or indigent prisoners who have completed their sentence but are still in jail due to non-payment of fine imposed on them by waiving off the fine.

>Persons who committed an offence at a young age i.e. between 18 and 21 years and with no other criminal involvement/case against them, who have completed 50 per cent of their sentence period (without counting the period of general remission earned).

"The state governments/UT administrations will be advised to constitute a State Level Screening Committee, who will scrutinise all cases keeping in view the prescribed conditions and make its recommendations to the State Government, who will place the recommendations before the Governor for consideration and approval. Cases, where the concurrence of the central government is required as per law, will be sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs. Foreign national convicts will be released with the concurrence of the Ministry of External Affairs," one government official said.

The MHA will issue an advisory to all states and UTs asking them to process the cases of eligible prisoners as per the guidelines and timelines and will be advised to release the prisoners after obtaining the necessary approval of the competent authority, it said.

According to officials, special remission and release of prisoners during the celebrations of the75th anniversary of India's independence is part of a generous humane initiative on the part of the Narendra Modi government. "Release of prisoners who have consistently maintained good conduct will help in their reintegration into society and would also provide relief to the family of such prisoners.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shishir Gupta
Shishir Gupta is Executive Editor at Hindustan Times and one of India's top journalists covering national security, strategic affairs, foreign policy and geopolitics. Over the past three decades, he has extensively reported on India's military, diplomatic and security landscape, covering every major conflict and national security challenge, from the 1999 Kargil War and the 2020 East Ladakh standoff to Operation Sindoor in 2025. He has also covered major terror attacks, including the IC-814 hijacking, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and the 2025 Pahalgam terror strike, along with numerous Pakistan-backed terrorist incidents in the Kashmir Valley and across India. He has reported on national and state elections for more than three decades. A recognised authority on strategic affairs, Gupta has covered India's nuclear programme since the Pokhran-II (Shakti series) tests in May 1998 and has written extensively on global nuclear issues, Indian diplomacy and the country's expanding global outreach. He has also reported widely on international conflicts and terrorism, with a special focus on the Indian subcontinent. Gupta has interviewed Prime Minister Narendra Modi more than four times, including Modi's first interview with the print media after becoming Prime Minister in May 2014. His other interviews include three with the Dalai Lama, as well as conversations with Benjamin Netanyahu, Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath, S. Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal. He is the author of Indian Mujahideen: The Enemy Within (Hachette, 2011) and Himalayan Face-off: Chinese Assertion and Indian Riposte (Hachette, 2014). He was awarded the Chevening-Wolfson Joint Scholarship at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, UK, in 1998 and participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) of the US State Department in 2006. He received the Ben Gurion Prize from Israel in 2011 and the K. Subrahmanyam Prize for Strategic Studies in 2015 from the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA). Since 2024, he has hosted Point Blank, Hindustan Times' weekly YouTube show on global geopolitics.Read More

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