Woking of Advisory Boards in Maharashtra State: Serving Human Rights of Felons

Rationale behind construction of a “Sentence Review Board” in any State correctional institution in lies behind the progression of law originating from custodial and penal causes, to reformative and rehabilitative handling of lawbreakers wherein well-behaved and upright conduct, and rectified attitude are considered for as a key criterion for reduction of judicial sentence of imprisonment on personalized footing.In consonance of the statutory power granted, and focusing upon the guidelines issued by “Model Prison Manual 2003” through a notificationon December 1, 2015 the Home Department of the Government of Maharashtra formulated the amending rules to “Maharashtra Prisons (Review of Sentences) Rules, 1972” and restructured the “Advisory Boards,Special Advisory Boards and Medical Committees” constituted for the purpose of “pre-mature release” of the certain categorisedconvicts.As the provision for a premature release is “an executive exercise and not a judicial process”, “executive discretion in granting or denying” it raises certain grey areas in the criminal dispensation system in India. The present paper with an analytical and critical approach attempts to study the existing makeup of executive process of “pre-mature release of a felonwhich though is not a legal right, but is a human right to have his case considered for the grant of remission” in State of Maharashtra