549 inmates recommended for parole

Kathmandu, Aug. 14: A Parole Board meeting chaired by the Attorney General has recommended 549 prisoners to go on parole. Parole refers to serving a jail sentence while staying at their respective homes with the freedom to live a normal social life.

Since December 2023, four meetings of the Parole Board have been held, during which 549 prisoners have been recommended for parole.

According to Jayanarayan Acharya, Director General for the Department of Prison Management (DoPM), the board, which met four times from January 10, 2024, to the present, recommended 549 prisoners for parole, of which 387 prisoners have been granted parole by court order and are currently serving their sentences at home.

The Parole Board is chaired by the Attorney General. In the meeting chaired by the then-Attorney General, Dr. Dinmani Pokharel, on January 10, 2024, 143 prisoners were recommended for parole. 

Similarly, the board meeting held on March 31, 2024 recommended parole for 154 prisoners, on May 31, 2024, for 117 prisoners, and on July 3, 2024, for 135 prisoners.

A total of 549 prisoners, including 24 women and 525 men, were recommended for parole.

According to the DoPM, out of the 549 prisoners, 471 were convicted of drug-related crimes, 26 of murder caused by vehicles, 22 of forest and wildlife crimes, 13 of theft, 10 of polygamy, six of foreign employment-related crimes, and one of national identity card and civil registration-related crimes.

The Parole Board includes ex-officio members such as the Secretary of the Ministry of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs, the Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Inspector General of Police. 

Additionally, psychiatrists Dr. Bashudev Karki and Dr. Lata Gautam from Patan Mental Hospital, and criminologist Prakash Bahadur KC, are also its members.

The Director General for the DoPM serves as the member-secretary of the board.

The recommendation for parole is made under Section 24 of the Criminal Offenses (Sentencing and Execution) Act, 2017. 

According to DG Acharya, prisoners who have served two-thirds (66.67%) of their sentences, have good conduct, and are not listed on the negative list, are recommended for parole.

However, criminals on negative list of crimes such as life imprisonment, corruption, forceful rape, acid attack, human trafficking, organised crime, money laundering, torture, crimes against humanity do not get the parole facility, said DG Acharya.

As a provision in the Act, the Parole Board appoints the prison administrator of the respective prison office as the parole officer.

Out of 77 districts, 72 districts have a total of 75 prison offices. Dhanusha, Bara, Bhaktapur, Eastern Nawalparasi, and Eastern Rukum districts have no prison office. As of June 13, 2024, there were 28,698 inmates in these prisons. Of them, 27,080 are men and 1,618 women. Among them, 1,330 are foreigners and 624 are inmates above 65 years of age.

Prisoners submit an application to the parole officer to be considered for parole. “The application is then submitted to the board via the department. The board reviews whether all criteria for parole are met and then makes a recommendation,” said Acharya. “The board’s decision is sent to the DoPM, which then forwards it to the respective prison where the prisoner is being held.”

Afterward, the prison administrator submits an application for parole to the court where the prisoner’s case was initially heard and registered.

“Only after the court schedules a hearing and issues a parole order can a prisoner be granted parole,” added Acharya. “Thus, although 549 have been recommended by the board, only 387 have received orders from the court, meaning not everyone has been granted parole.”

Prisoners on parole are required to report to the prison administrator (parole officer) in every 15 or 30 days being present personally. If they need to leave the district, they must obtain permission from the prison administrator.

He also said that the behaviour of the prisoner on parole is monitored to ensure that he/she remains appropriate.

“Local representatives, including the ward chairperson of the area where the prisoner’s house is located, are made liable to inform about the prisoner’s conduct,” he added. “So far, there have been no complaints to the department regarding prisoners on parole.”

On October 3, the Council of Ministers decided to implement the parole provision as mentioned in section 24 of the Criminal Offenses (Sentencing and Execution) Act, 2017. As per the decision, from October 18, 2023, the system came into implementation after the formation of the Parole Board led by the Attorney General.