Nonagenarian convict awaits freedom from Odisha jail

Nonagenarian Balaram Sira is perhaps the country oldest convict and is serving a sentence despite rules which state that old and decrepit prisoners who are incapable of committing a crime are eligible for premature release after they complete 60 months of imprisonment.

Bhubaneswar: Nonagenarian Balaram Sira is perhaps the country's oldest convict and is serving a sentence despite rules which state that old and decrepit prisoners who are incapable of committing a crime are eligible for premature release after they complete 60 months of imprisonment. Sira, who is lodged in the British-era circle jail in Odisha's Koraput district, is officially 92 years old.

His family said his age is 96. The convict number 7273/A is presently admitted to the jail hospital for the past few years as he battles old-age ailments. A native of Dengapadar village under Borigumma police station, he was arrested in 2013 in connection with murder over a land dispute. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the additional district and sessions judge, Jeypore on January 22, 2015.

As an under-trial prisoner since March 2013 and later on as a convicted prisoner, Sira has been behind bars for nine and half years despite his advanced age, said historian Anil Dhir, who has appealed to the highest authorities for the man's early release. For the last few years, Sira has been admitted to the prison hospital and is fighting age-related ailments with no hope of stepping out alive, he said on Sunday.

The man is in a poor mental and physical state through the jail superintendent, doctors and staff of the jail hospital are taking good care of him, the historian said. Dhir said three considerations which should be taken care of are whether the convict has lost his potential for committing crime considering his overall conduct, the possibility of reclaiming the convict as a useful member of society and the socio-economic condition of his family.

Besides, the Categorization of Prisoners for Premature Release states that male convicts who have been sentenced to life imprisonment and are aged more than 65 years and have undergone actual imprisonment of five years, including remand period and total imprisonment of seven years including remission shall be prematurely released, he said.

Moreover, the rules clearly state that old and decrepit prisoners, who are incapable of committing crime, male life convicts aged 65 years and above and women convicts, aged 55 years and above, are eligible for premature release after they complete 60 months of imprisonment. "Sira fulfills all the laws. He has completed 111 months imprisonment till date but his name has not been cleared by the advisory board for premature release," Dhir said.
I have written to the president of India and chief justices of both the Supreme Court and the High Court of Odisha for Balaram Sira's release.

It does not go well for the justice system to have such an aged person incarcerated in jails. I have gone to his village, his family say that he is even older and is actually 96 years old, Dhir pointed out. Advocate Ajit Patro of Koraput, who highlighted Balaram Sira's case, said the implementation of the criminal justice system rests with the police, court and prisons.

Koraput prison jailor Lalatendu Bhusan Das said the prison authority has already recommended Sira's release to State Sentence Review Board. The man's family has shifted from the place it used to reside in and police verification could not be done for his release, Das said. (PTI)