Rejection Of Remission Plea Despite SRB’s Recommendation For Premature Release “Undesirable”: SC To Odisha

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday termed as “extremely undesirable state of affairs” the Odisha government’s action of rejecting the remission plea of a convict, serving life term in a case of kidnapping for ransom, despite the sentence review board (SRB) recommending his premature release.

The apex court noted the state government rejected the remission plea without recording any reasons, news agency PTI reported.

“We have impressed upon the Solicitor General (Tushar Mehta), who appears for the state government, that this is an extremely undesirable state of affairs. It is not an appreciation of the law laid down on the issue. There must be some special reasons why despite the recommendation of the state sentence review board, recommendation was not accepted. It cannot be ipse dixit (an assertion made by an individual based solely on their own authority, without any supporting evidence or proof) of the officer examining the file…,” a bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia said.

The bench noted that the issue was re-examined by the authorities and remission granted to the convict.

Mehta told the court he has advised the state government that there must be a proper process or standard operating procedure (SOP) for the exercise.

The bench directed that the SOP be brought in place within a maximum period of four weeks so such cases are not repeated in future.

Justice Kaul pointed out that this has happened in more than one case and the court’s time has been wasted.

The bench also warned the officer concerned of ordering an inquiry against him.