Agartala: The Tripura High Court has intervened in the case of seven convicts whose requests for premature release were turned down by the State Level Committee, holding that their cases require fresh consideration under the prescribed government guidelines.

The order was passed by a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice S. Ramachandra Rao and Justice Biswajit Palit.

The seven prisoners have already spent between 15 and 21 years in custody. Their respective Superintendents of Jail had recommended their premature release, but the recommendations were subsequently rejected by the State Level Committee.

The Committee’s decision was based, among other things, on a police verification report. The High Court, however, found that the applicable premature-release policy did not prescribe such a requirement.

The Court specifically examined the Home (Jail) Department notification dated September 3, 2025, which lays down the framework for considering premature release of prisoners. It found that the Committee had not considered the cases in accordance with the principles governing the exercise of its discretion under the notification.

Consequently, the Court set aside the Committee’s decision of August 21, 2026 and directed it to take up the cases of all seven convicts once again. The fresh exercise has been ordered to be carried out strictly in accordance with the norms contained in the September 3, 2025 notification.

The ruling is significant as the Court has emphasised that a premature-release decision must be assessed on the basis of the criteria actually prescribed by the governing policy, rather than on the basis of an additional condition not found in the notification.

The State was represented by Advocate General S. M. Chakraborty, assisted by Advocate Pinki Chakraborty.

The matter will come up next on October 7, 2026.