What are the Parole and Furlough? What is difference Between Parole and Furlough ?

Parole and furlough are essentially similar, yet they are different in terms of approach and content. Despite the fact that parole is only given in certain circumstances, such as a self-health emergency, a closed inmate’s wedding, or the death of a blood relative, furlough is a right that is occasionally granted.

Introduction

Inmates can benefit from social reformation through this offering while still having a chance to eventually reintegrate into society. 32,122 prisoners were released on parole in 2020, according to the National Crime Records Bureau’s (hereafter NCRB) Prison Statistics India report. Keeping this in mind, the provisions and possibilities listed below are available to convicts in accordance with the general guidelines of the Act.

How Parole and Furlough was Introduced In India?

Scottish geographer and captain in the royal navy Alexander Maconochie established the idea of parole in the year 1840. The reformatory trend in criminology in the 19th century included parole as a component. Later, the British penal colonies’ Superintendent position was given to Maconochie. Maconochie wanted to punish the offenders by preparing them for the future, as opposed to leaving the convicts to suffer miserably until their entire term was served. Maconochie created a three-grade system for his system of grades.

Also Read: What are the Types Of Criminal Proceeding In Matrimonial Disputes?

In the first and second, it served primarily to rank or promote the offenders based on their excellent conduct, productivity, etc. The third grade was for the prisoner’s restricted parole outside the jail so he may experience the taste of freedom. If the terms are broken, the prisoner will be returned to custody and the three-grade procedure will have to be repeated. The world’s first parole system, in the opinion of many, was created as a result of the reformation of the ticket to leave system. Parole was tested almost concurrently in Spain, Germany, and England in the early 1900s as a technique before being widely embraced.

What is Parole?

Parole

Offenders who are assessed to have displayed good behavior while incarcerated and who are not deemed to pose a risk to the public safety are frequently given parole. The goal of parole is to provide prisoners a chance to reintegrate into society and lower their risk of committing crimes again.

Parole is defined in Section 2(p) of the Delhi Prison Act, 2000 thus: –

‘‘Parole system’ means the system of releasing prisoners from prison on parole by suspension of their sentences in accordance with the rules”

What is Furlough?

Furlough

Prisoners may be granted a furlough, which is a brief release from custody for a particular objective or amount of time. Prisoners may be granted a furlough in various jurisdictions for a variety of reasons, including as to attend funerals or other family events, to receive medical treatment, or to take part in rehabilitation or reintegration programmes.

Furlough is defined in Section 2(h) of the Delhi Prison Act, 2000 thus: –

“Furlough means leave as a reward granted to a convicted prisoner who has been sentenced to RI for 5 years or more and has undergone 3 years thereof”

What is the Objectives of Parole & Furlough ?

The Delhi Prison Act, 2000 includes a provision for parole and furlough with the aim of helping convicts build family ties, confidence, and social reform. The goals of parole and furlough are outlined there, and they can be helpfully duplicated as follows. –

• Parole and Furlough to inmates are progressive measures of correctional services. In addition to saving him from the negative effects of confinement, a prisoner’s release on parole also allows him to keep up social ties with his family and community. Additionally, it aids in the development and maintenance of his feeling of self-worth. His optimism for life is maintained by ongoing interactions with his family and the neighborhood. The prisoner’s furlough release encourages him to behave well and uphold the prison’s rules.
• Parole means temporary release of a prisoner for short period so that he may maintain social relations with his family and the community in order to fulfill his familial and social obligations and responsibilities. It gives a prisoner the chance to stay in touch frequently with the outside world so that he can stay current on social changes. However, it is made clear that the time a prisoner spends outside the jail while on parole is in no way a concession to his sentence. For the time he spent on parole outside of jail, the prisoner must serve additional time in jail.
• Furlough means release of a prisoner for a short period of time after a gap of certain qualified numbers of years of incarceration by way of motivation for maintaining good conduct and to remain disciplined in the prison. This is just a compensation for inmates who behave well. As a result, the time the prisoner spent on furlough outside of the facility will be added to his sentence.

To summarize the objectives of releasing a prisoner on parole and furlough are to give the solve the problems or issues post free from prisons. The inmate are made enable to to maintain continuity with his family life and deal with familial and social matters, to maintain and develop his self-confidence, to develop constructive hope and active interest in life, to remain in touch with the developments in the outside world, to remain physiologically and psychologically healthy, to overcome/recover from the stress and evil effects of incarceration, and to motivate him to maintain good conduct and discipline in the prison

What are the Principles of Parole and Furlough?

In the matter of “State of Gujarat & Anr. v. Narayan: (2021)” the Hon’ble Court has provided the guidelines for the Principles of Parole and Furlough which clear the doubts on what, why and  have been defined for better in-depth clarity

• Furlough and parole envisage a short-term temporary release from custody;
• While parole is granted for the prisoner to meet a specific exigency, furlough may be granted after a stipulated number of years have been served without any reason;
• The grant of furlough is to break the monotony of imprisonment and to enable the convict to maintain continuity with family life and integration with society;
• Although furlough can be claimed without a reason, the prisoner does not have an absolute legal right to claim furlough.
• The grant of furlough must be balanced against the public interest and can be refused to certain categories of prisoners.

What are Conditions for Parole? On what ground Parole can be granted ?

In the Parole, it is mandatory to follow the given Rules and Conditions for any inmates to obtain the Parole which are briefly such as, a convict must have served at least the period of one year in prison excluding under-trial period and any period covered by remission. However, in exceptional cases, where the prisoner has spent more than 3 years as under trial period or half of the sentence of the punishment awarded as under trial then his parole application may be considered, if he has spent at least 6 months in prison as convict.

The conduct of the Prisoner who has been awarded major punishment for any prison offence should have been uniformly good for last two years from the date of application and the conduct of Prisoner who has been awarded minor punishment or no punishment for any prison offence in prison should have been uniformly good for last one year from the date of application. Delhi Prison Rules, 2018.

Precautionary steps to avoid the seizure of Parole or Furlough. During the period of release on parole or furlough, if granted earlier, the convict should not have committed any crime.

The convict should not have violated any terms and conditions of the parole or furlough granted previously.  A minimum of six months ought to have elapsed from the date of surrender on the conclusion of the previous parole availed. In emergency, parole may be considered even if minimum period of six months has not elapsed from the date of termination of previous Parole. The emergency may include delivery of a child by the wife of the convict, death of a family member, marriage of children, terminal illness of family members and natural calamities.

When the Parole may not be Granted?

The Prole is not the matter of right but the matter of request approved by the authorities considering the behavior and the requirement of the inmates or convicts. There are certain cases where the Parole may not be granted, except, if in the discretion of the competent authority special circumstances exist for grant of parole;

Prisoners convicted under sedition, terrorist activities and NDPS Act. The  immediate presence in the society may be considered dangerous or otherwise prejudicial to public peace. Prisoners who are considered dangerous or have been involved in serious prison violence like assault, outbreak of riot, mutiny or escape, or rearrested who absconded while released on parole or furlough or who have been found to be instigating serious violation of prison discipline as per the reports in his/ her annual good conduct report.

Convicted foreigners subject to prior approval of Ministry of Home Affairs & Ministry of External Affairs and having valid permission to stay in India. Conviction of murder after rape; Delhi Prison Rules, 2018, Convicted under POCSO; multiple murders, for Dacoity with murder, for Murder after kidnapping for ransom. A convict would be released on parole for a period of maximum eight weeks in minimum two spells in a conviction year. However, the period of release in one spell should not be more than four weeks. There should be one month gap between parole and last furlough availed and vice–versa.

What are Conditions for Furlough? ON WHAT GROUND Furlough CAN BE GRANTED ?

Same as Parole, Furlough also needs some of the basic conditions to be fulfilled by the inmates

A prisoner, as described above, may be granted 7 weeks of furlough in three spells in a conviction year with maximum of 03 weeks in one spell. Note: -Every eligible convict may be granted one spell of furlough in the month of his birthday, subject to fulfillment of the other conditions, without any application for furlough moved by the convict. If the prisoner does not want to avail this furlough then written undertaking may be taken from him in this regard.

In order to be eligible to obtain furlough, the prisoner must fulfill the following criteria: –

1. Good conduct in the prison and should have earned rewards in last 3 Annual good conduct report and continues to maintain good conduct.
2. II. The prisoner should not be a habitual offender.
3. III. The prisoner should be a citizen of India.

When the Furlough may not be Granted?

Having described earlier, Furlough is permitted on some of the basic conditions once fulfilled by the inmates whereas for some of the categories in the Prisoners it is not granted as default such as convicted under sedition, terrorist activities and NDPS Act. Prisoners whose immediate presence in the society may be considered dangerous or otherwise prejudicial to public peace, considered dangerous or have been involved in serious prison violence like assault, outbreak of riot, mutiny or escape, or rearrested who absconded while released on parole or furlough or who have been found to be instigating serious violation of prison discipline as per the reports in his/her annual good conduct report.

In the following cases, furlough shall not be granted, except, if in the discretion of the competent authority special circumstances exist for grant of furlough

That the prisoners convicted of murder after rape, under POCSO Act, convicted for multiple murders whether in single case or several cases, Dacoity with murder and murder after kidnapping for ransom, may be considered by the competent authority on the following parameters: –

What is the Differences between parole and furlough?

As matter of routine understanding of the general public, it is sometime misunderstood that the bothThe Hon’ble Court in the matter of “State of Maharashtra v. Suresh Pandurang Darvakar” & “State of Haryana v. Mohinder Singh” gave more clarity in precise for better understanding-:

• Both parole and furlough are conditional release.
• Parole can be granted in case of short-term imprisonment whereas in furlough it is granted in case of long-term imprisonment.
• Duration of parole extends to one month whereas in the case of furlough it extends to fourteen days maximum.
• Parole is granted by Divisional Commissioner and furlough is granted by the Deputy Inspector General of Prisons.
• For parole, specific reason is required, whereas furlough is meant for breaking the monotony of imprisonment.
• The term of imprisonment is not included in the computation of the term of parole, whereas it is vice versa in furlough.
• Parole can be granted number of times whereas there is limitation in the case of furlough.
• Since furlough is not granted for any particular reason, it can be denied in the interest of the society.

Conclusion:

It has been emphasized by the Ministry of Home Affairs in the past that Parole and Furlough are not matter of absolute right and may be granted considering the prescribed grounds. The purpose of both is to offer the humanitarian approach to provide the best possible ways to the inmates to keep in touch with the society and feel a part of society.

The Prison is undoubtly a provision to safeguard the society but also not the barrier to cut off the prisoners completely especially the prisoners are in good behaviors at the Jails provide they fulfil the requirement. Both notions are may be seen as the way to provide the liberty to the inmates to re-connect with the society and understand their position so that once they are released from the jail, they may be able rejoin their family.

Disclaimer

The views expressed in the blogs are purely the authors’ own, and they are not intended to offend anyone or to be prejudicial toward or against any individual, group of individuals, society, sex, gender, race, creed, nation, or religion, or any other term that is even remotely and closely connected. Legal-Varta is a platform for disseminating knowledge so that everyone can comprehend the legal system better. In order to avoid any misrepresentation and since it is even not advisable to do so, only content that is directly related to the Law and Statute is included in the articles. If any misrepresentation is discovered, however, we are willing to amend it because it is only for everyone’s advantage.

Reference

• Delhi Prison Rules, 2018 deals with the matters concerning parole and furlough.
• State of Gujarat & Anr. v. Narayan: (2021) SCCOnLine SC 949
• State of Maharashtra v. Suresh Pandurang Darvakar”
• “State of Haryana v. Mohinder Singh
• https://ncrb.gov.in/sites/default/files/PSI_2020_as_on_27-12-2021_0.pdf