Justices Anita Sumanth and Sunder Mohan order that the module, developed by NALSA, could be implemented on a pilot basis first at Puzhal Central Prison

The Madras High Court has directed Tamil Nadu government to kickstart the process of implementing the E-Prisons Early Release Processing Module, a digital system aimed at automating and expediting the remission and premature release of eligible prisoners lodged in various prisons across the State.

A Division Bench of Justices Anita Sumanth and Sunder Mohan ordered that the module, prepared by National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) and launched by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant recently, could be implemented first on a pilot-basis at the Central Prison in Puzhal near Chennai.

The judges directed the High Court’s Registrar (Information Technology-cum-Statistics) to convene a meeting of all stakeholders including the officers from the Director General of Prisons, for proper implementation of the software by deploying the necessary infrastructure and manpower.

The Registrar must convene the meeting within two weeks and file a compliance report before the court within a week thereafter confirming the readiness to implement the module in the Puzhal Central Prison so that its effectiveness could be studied before extending the facility to all other prisons, the judges said.

The directions were issued while allowing a writ petition filed for premature release of A. Dhanapal who was part of an armed mob that had hurled country bombs on a police vehicle at Omalur in 1997 and murdered five remand prisoners when they were being escorted back to prison after being produced before a judicial magistrate.

The judges agreed with the convict’s counsel M. Radhakrishnan, assisted by M. Mohammed Safiulla, that he had completed over 21 years of incarceration and therefore, fully entitled to be considered for premature release. They directed the Home Secretary to pass appropriate orders on the convict’s plea within four weeks.

Authoring the verdict, Justice Sumanth pointed out that NALSA had recently developed the software titled as ‘E-Prisons Early Release Processing Module’ following the orders passed by the Supreme Court in a case related to Uttar Pradesh and it had been implemented on a pilot-basis in that State.

The salient features of the module was that it helps in identfying the prisoners eligible for premature release and commences the process for their release four months in advance. It ensures that the prisoners and his/her relatives receive routine updates, regarding the process, through SMS and WhatsApp.

The module also discourages physical movement of files and instead encourages digital movement of those files in an attempt to bring about a paperless system. Since the Supreme Court had impressed upon the need for a similar initiative in other States too, the Madras High Court ordered its implementation in Tamil Nadu too.