Section 61 in The West Bengal Correctional Services Act, 1992
61. Release.—
(1)Every prisoner shall be released from the correctional home on the particular date on which his release becomes due. Such date of release shall be calculated by making deduction of the following periods from the total period of imprisonment of the prisoner:—(i)the period of remission earned or granted under section 58 or section 59;(ii)the period of set off under section 428 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974);(iii)the period of remission, if any, granted by the State Government under section 432 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973;(iv)the period, if any, commuted by the State Government under section 433 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.(2)A prisoner shall also be released on receipt by the Superintendent of any order of release made by any competent court, or any order of premature release made by the State Government, on consideration of such matters as may be prescribed, in the following cases:—(i)when a convicted prisoner, other than a prisoner referred to in sub-section (4), has undergone continuous imprisonment in the correctional home for a period of 14 years including the period of release on parole and the period of remission earned or granted to him.(ii)when a convicted prisoner is in danger on account of sickness or is suffering from complete blindness or infirmity caused by old age or leprosy or tuberculosis;(iii)when the Superintendent recommends to the State Government the early release of such reformed prisoner on completion of a part of the period of imprisonment as shall not cause any danger to the community;(iv)when the provisions of clause (i) or clause (ii) or clause (iii) do not apply to a prisoner who is about to complete a period of 20 years of continuous detention including the period of release on parole and the period of remission, if any, earned or granted to him, and has to his credit a satisfactory record during the last 3 years of detention.(4)(a)Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions of this section, where a sentence of imprisonment for life is imposed on conviction of a person for an offence for which death is one of the punishments provided by law or where the sentence of death imposed on a person is commuted to imprisonment for life under section 433 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), such person shall not be released except on parole, unless he has served at least 14 years of imprisonment.(b)The provisions of this sub-section shall apply only in the case of conviction or commutation as aforesaid made after the 18th day of December, 1978 but shall not apply in the case of conviction by way of imprisonment for life, though made after the 18th day of December, 1978, is such conviction arises out of an appeal against the order of acquittal passed before the 18th day of December, 1978, by any trial Court.(5)When an under-trial prisoner has been confined in a correctional home for a period of three months under orders of a Court, the Superintendent shall, before the expiry of the said period of three months, make a reference to that Court or to the Court before which his trial is pending seeking instructions for his confinement beyond the period of three months. If the Superintendent is of opinion that the prisoner has been confined beyond the maximum period of imprisonment which may be inflicted for the offence disclosed in the custody warrant, he may invite the attention of the Court which remanded the prisoner into custody, or the Court before which the trial of the prisoner is pending, to the said fact and seek orders for the release of the prisoner.(6)The manner in which a prisoner, and especially a female or lunatic or sick or infirm prisoner whose relative or friend does not come to receive the prisoner, shall be released and the rate at which the diet charge and travelling allowance shall be paid to the different classes of prisoners shall be such as may be prescribed.
