TP convicts row: Govt freezes remission list for over 1,000 prisoners

Thiruvananthapuram: With its attempt to grant unauthorised remission to the convicts in the T P Chandrasekharan murder case falling flat, the state government has now withheld remission for over a thousand prisoners across Kerala.

The government has now put on hold its decision to offer sentence reductions in connection with the 75th anniversary of India’s independence. Two official committees, formed to scrutinize the list of prisoners eligible for exemption, have yet to convene a single meeting in the four and a half months since their six-month term began.

These committees, each consisting of senior officials from the Home, Law, and Prisons departments, was constituted on May 4. To begin with, they instructed prisons to revise the list of convicts eligible for remission.

Accordingly, the Kannur prison submitted a revised list in June that controversially included the names of T K Rejeesh, KK Muhammad Shafi, and S Sajith—convicts in the murder of Revolutionary Marxist Party leader T P Chandrasekharan. A letter from the Kannur Prison Superintendent requesting a police report on the remission of their sentences, however, soon leaked to the public.

The letter, sent to the Kannur City Police Commissioner, referenced a proposal to release the three convicts under a 2022 government order and requested an investigation into their cases, including inquiries with their families, friends, and potential victims.

The inclusion of these names sparked a public outcry, as the High Court had already sentenced the trio to 20 years' imprisonment, explicitly restricting their right to remission. In a previous ruling, the court had dismissed their appeal to overturn the Kozhikode Additional Sessions Court’s sentence and even increased the punishment for six of the convicts, including Rejeesh and Shafi, to double life terms.

The controversy deepened when it was revealed that these convicts had also been included in previous draft remission list as well, despite guidelines clearly stating that convicts involved in "quotation murder cases" are not eligible for such leniency.

With no other options left, the government acknowledged the violation of these guidelines in including the T P Chandrasekharan case convicts. Prison officials were made scapegoats, with three—including the Joint Superintendent of Prisons—being suspended, and an inquiry was launched.

Although the Home Department clarified that the final remission list would exclude the convicts involved in the TP Chandrasekharan murder, the list of 1,334 prisoners eligible for remission remains untouched. The remission period under consideration ranged from 15 days for those imprisoned for three months to five months for those serving 10-year sentences.