(1)Where a person is detained in prison under a sentence of imprisonment, and the State Government is satisfied from his antecedents or his conduct in prison that he is likely to lead a law-abiding and useful life, if he is released from prison, the State Government may, subject to rules made under this Act, by order direct that such person be released on parole, upon his giving an undertaking to observe the conditions specified in the order and upon his entering into a bond to surrender himself to the Superintendent of the prison on revocation of such order, and be placed under the supervision or authority of a Parole Officer, who may be a Probation Officer appointed under the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958 (Central Act 20 of 1958) or any other officer appointed by the State Government to be a Parole Officer, or of a society, an institution or a responsible person willing to take charge of him :Provided that when an order is made under this section for release on parole of a person in respect of whom the State Government is not the appropriate Government as defined in section 2 of this Act, intimation about such order shall be immediately communicated by the State Government to the appropriate Government :Provided further that no person under a sentence of imprisonment for life for an offence for which death is one of the punishments provided by law shall be released on parole unless he has served at least ten years of actual imprisonment including any period of detention undergone during investigation, inquiry or trial of such offence.(2)Before making an order under sub-section (1) the State Government shall take into consideration the recommendation of the Review Board constituted under section 22.(3)The parole order made under sub-section (1) shall be in force, -(a)where the person released on parole was sentenced to imprisonment, not being imprisonment for life, for the unexpired term of the sentence or until the parole order is revoked, whichever is earlier;(b)where the person released on parole was sentenced to imprisonment for life, until the sentence of imprisonment for life is remitted by the appropriate Government or until the parole order is revoked, whichever is earlier.(4)The State Government may at any time, on being satisfied that the person released on parole has failed to observe any of the conditions of parole, or otherwise in its discretion, revoke a parole order.(5)An order of revocation made under sub-section (4) shall specify the date with effect from which the parole order shall cease to be in force and shall be served upon the person released on parole in such manner as may be prescribed by rules made under this Act.(6)The period during which a person is absent from prison in pursuance of a parole order in force shall be reckoned as a part of the period of imprisonment to which he was sentenced:Provided that if the parole order is revoked under sub-section (4) for failure on the part of the person released on parole to observe any of the conditions of parole, the period of such absence shall not be so reckoned, and the person shall have to serve the whole of the unexpired term of his original sentence of imprisonment.
