The court has given its verdict in the case of Chandan Gupta, who was killed during the Tricolor Yatra taken out in 2018 in Kasganj, Uttar Pradesh. The court has sentenced all 28 convicts to life imprisonment. Now the question is whether life imprisonment is only for 14 to 20 years? If yes, then why is it called life imprisonment or life imprisonment? How do convicts sentenced to life imprisonment get released after 14 to 20 years? Let’s know everything…
You must have seen in Bollywood films that the court sentences a convict to life imprisonment. The prisoner is released only after 14 years of his sentence. If this is true then what is the meaning of 14 years’ imprisonment? Generally, people have this belief that convicts sentenced to life imprisonment are released after 14 years, but it is not so.
Coming straight to the point…
Correct this information that there is no rule of 14 years or 20 years in Indian law. It is not written anywhere in the law that the punishment will be 14 years of life imprisonment. That is, life imprisonment simply means life imprisonment. When a convict is sentenced to life imprisonment, he is kept in jail till his last breath. The Supreme Court had also given a verdict in 2012 and made it clear that life imprisonment means jail for life, nothing more. The court had refused to explain the matter further.
So where did the rule of 14 or 20 years come from
The job of the court is to pronounce sentence. The work of executing the punishment is done by the state government. In any case of punishment, the state government has the right to forgive or reduce the sentence of the prisoner. In case of life imprisonment, the state government can release the prisoner after 14 years at its discretion. That means, if after 14 years the state government feels that the prisoner has improved, then he can be released. However, he will have to remain in jail for at least 14 years. Now it is up to the state government to keep the convict sentenced to life imprisonment for 14 years, 20 years or till his last breath. However, in cases like treason and heinous crimes, the punishment is not reduced or waived.
Are days and nights counted differently in jail?
People have another misconception about jail. The common belief is that days and nights are counted differently in jail sentence. That means day and night means two full days. It’s not like that. It is not written anywhere in the law that day and night will be counted separately. A day in jail also means only 24 hours.
