Ministry collecting suggestions before giving amnesty to inmates

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Aug. 13: The Department of Prison Management (DoPM) has furnished the final details of 601 prisoners to the Ministry of Home Affairs for their amnesty by the President on the occasion of the Constitution Day on September 19. 

Once the Ministry of Home Affairs forwards these recommendations to the Council of Ministers for a cabinet nod, the decision will be forwarded to the President for authentication to grant them amnesty, according to the DoPM.

Every year, on the occasion of Republic Day (Jestha 15) and Constitution Day (Asoj 3), the government releases prisoners who have completed 50 per cent of their sentence and have exhibited good behaviour, based on the recommendation of the Department.

However, beginning a new trend and practice from this new fiscal, the Department issued public notices on June 7 to all prisons in the country, inviting complaints and suggestions within seven days from the public and the prisoners themselves if they have any objections to the inmates recommended for amnesty. 

Kamal Prasad Pandey, Director and Spokesperson for the Department, said that after publishing the details of 620 prisoners on the website of the Department on June 24, the Department received some complaints and it reviewed them and the persons recommended for amnesty by the respective prison offices. 

Of the total 620 recommended prisoners, 586 inmates who have completed 50 per cent jail term were recommended for amnesty, three senior citizens based on Section 12 of the Senior Citizens Act-2006, and 31 prisoners having completed 40 per cent jail term based on the verdict of the Supreme Court were recommended for release. 

"Through emails, some prisoners questioned and objected to the omission of their names for amnesty despite submitting applications," said Director Pandey. "Similarly, some prisoners involved in the same crime on the same day and sentenced on the same date expressed concern about their exclusion from the list," said director Pandey. 

Based on these complaints, the Department re-investigated the matter and removed the names of 19 prisoners, forwarding the recommendation of 601 prisoners to the Ministry of Home Affairs for amnesty on the upcoming Constitution Day, said Pandey. 

"These prisoners would have been pardoned on the occasion of Republic Day on Jestha 15 (May-June). However, due to the failure to amend the Criminal Offenses (Sentencing and Execution) Act 2017 as per the Supreme Court's decision, they were not released on Republic Day," he added. "We have now recommended the details of 601 prisoners to the Ministry of Home Affairs for amnesty to them.” 

"After the Government of Nepal (Council of Ministers) decides on the proposal, the President will make a decision, and they may be released on Constitution Day on September 19," he said. 

In addition, the Department has issued another circular to all prison offices to recommend additional prisoners for amnesty on the occasion of Constitution Day. All these prisoners, along with those released on Republic Day, are expected to be released together this time. 

More than 1,000 prisoners, including those pardoned on Republic Day and on the Constitution Day, are expected to be released at once, said Pandey. 

Meanwhile, the Director General for the Department, Jayanarayan Acharya, said that this was the first time that the Department and Home Ministry issued public notices and invited public comments and complaints from the public quarters to ascertain   if there are any reservations about the prisoners who are about to get amnesty from the President upon the recommendation made by the government. 

"The Prison Management Department has started to publicise the list of prisoners who are going to get amnesty and begun asking for citizens' feedback from this year which is a new system," said DG Acharya.

Last year only, the release of Yograj Dhakal aka Regal, who was sentenced to life imprisonment on a murder charge, was widely criticised. 

Later, the Supreme Court on November 2, 2023, reversed the President's decision to grant amnesty to Dhakal.