BANGALORE: Governor H R Bharadwaj has reportedly sought further clarifications on the state government’s recommendation for the release of 590 convicts lodged in jails across the state.
Minister for Prisons Umesh Katti on Monday said that he along with Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa are likely to meet the governor in this regard shortly.
Katti, who acknowledged that the file on release of prisoners is being returned by the Raj Bahvan for the third time, (twice during his own ministerial term) said that the governor has returned it with some ‘observations’.
The police report and individual files on the prisoners have been sought, the governor also wants to look at it on a case by case basis and not in bulk, Katti said. The department will now move these case files to the Raj Bhavan in sets of three each, he added.
The minister defended the government’s move to seek the release of these prisoners saying that the context in which they had committed the crime and their behaviour during years behind bars were taken into account while recommending their release.
Some of them are convicts committed a crime driven by impulse - there was no motive or vengeance in the action - and they have served 15 years or so, he explained.