TIRUCHY: The preparation of the list of life convicts eligible for premature release from prisons will take around 20 days for completion, said Law Minister S Regupathy here on Sunday. Following an inspection of the Central Prison here alongside School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, the Minister said,
“The preparation of a list of inmates who are eligible for release started only after the CM’s announcement on it. We cannot release every life convict who has served a jail period of 10 years. Convicts lodged for terrorism, sedition and other heinous crimes are not eligible. The respective jail authorities are identifying inmates and preparing the list.”
CM MK Stalin had announced in the State Legislative Assembly last month, the premature release of 700 life convicts on the occasion of the birth anniversary of former chief minister CN Annadurai. Minister Regupathy, who had interacted with prisoners of the Central Prison, said all the 1,517 inmates of the prison expressed satisfaction with its food and facilities.
Further, responding to the demand by political leaders for the immediate release of inmates lodged at the special camp near Tiruchy Central Prison, the Minister said, “No inmate is kept at the special camp beyond their conviction term. Only people who do not bear a legal passport or have a threat to their life or do not wish to go back to their native country stay there. The government has no need to hold them in these camps.”
The minister also stressed that the DMK remained firm in their stand on the immediate release of all the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case and the scrapping of the NEET.