A proposal has been made for a legal provision that allows the court to order an offender to serve his sentence at home instead of sending him to prison. The offender sent to serve his sentence in this way will have to be monitored by installing an electronic monitoring device.

Such a proposal has been made in the draft bill prepared by the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs to amend the existing Criminal Offences Act. The proposal is in the draft bill to amend the Criminal Offences (Determination and Implementation of Punishment) Act. There is no such provision in the current Act. 

A provision has been made to add a new Section 28(a) to the existing Act to allow the offender to serve his sentence under electronic monitoring. It states that – ‘If the court finds it appropriate for an offender to serve his sentence under the supervision of an electronic device, it may order such offender to be installed with an electronic monitoring device and serve his sentence.’ The cost of the electronic device will have to be borne by the offender himself. If the offender refuses to pay the expenses, he will be sent to prison.

It is said that such an order can be made by setting certain limits and conditions based on the seriousness of the offense, the age of the offender, physical and mental condition, and his conduct. The draft states that if the court goes beyond the limits and conditions set, the offender will be sentenced to an additional one year of imprisonment in addition to the initially determined imprisonment.

The court can also provide such facilities to the accused during the order of detention. There is a proposal to add a new section 74(a) to Section 74 of the Code. It is said that the court can order a place limit while ordering detention. ‘While ordering detention, the court may order a place limit so that the accused is not allowed to leave the specified place with or without the use of electronic monitoring devices, considering the seriousness of the offense,’ the proposed new section states.

Similarly, some provisions have been added to the current provision that allows prisoners to be released on parole. A provision has been made for the Probation and Parole Board to release prisoners who have served three years of imprisonment and have completed 75 years of age or who are unable to take care of themselves due to incurable illness or physical reasons, subject to a location limit. It has been said that a life-imprisoned prisoner can be released on parole if his behavior has improved after serving thirty years of imprisonment. 

The Criminal Offences (Sentence Determination and Execution) Act defines ‘parole’ as a situation where a prisoner who has served two-thirds of the prescribed prison sentence and is allowed to live in the society under the supervision of a parole officer by complying with the remaining conditions. It is proposed to amend the provision that two-thirds of the prison sentence has been served and make it 60 percent of the prison sentence has been served. The Act provides for the Probation and Parole Board to be chaired by the Attorney General.

Similarly, a provision has been proposed to make it possible for an offender sentenced to three years of imprisonment to be placed in community service for the remaining period if it is not deemed appropriate to keep him in prison. Currently, such a facility is available only to offenders sentenced to six months of imprisonment. Section 22 of the Act states that the court may issue such an order after considering the age, conduct, circumstances surrounding the commission of the offence, and the method adopted by the offender. The existing Act states that the court may issue such an order only if the offender agrees to do community service. The amendment bill provides that a judge may issue an order to keep a prisoner in an open prison on the recommendation of the prison chief who has served 60 percent of his prison term and has shown good conduct.