In a big development in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has cleared the changes in parole norms proposed by the home department making them stringent. Following the outrage over the disappearance of convict Sajjad Moghal in the Pallavi Purkayastha rape and murder case, the Maharashtra government today decided that rapists, kidnappers and dacoits, terrorists and the culprits serving life sentence will not be entitled for the parole anymore. Amending the jail manual in the state, the government has brought a new set of rules for prisons especially concerning parole and furlough. The Maharashtra Home Department had last week put all parole applications on hold temporarily.

The department had notified that no parole would be given till revised rules are notified. Maharashtra government has encountered a humiliating situation by having highest number of parole violations consistently that forced the government to revise parole rules. Apart from the rapists, those sentenced for dacoity, terror crimes, mutiny against state, kidnapping for ransom, human traffickers, and smugglers of narcotics will also not be granted any parole. The convicts will get emergency parole only in case of the death or illness of immediate relatives, and marriage of their children or siblings. “Currently, almost in all the cases, including terrorist activities, rape and narcotics cases, the parole is granted by the authorities. The convicts in the TADA cases too were granted the parole. The new rules completely bar the parole for six to seven categories, including rape,” a home department official has been quoted as saying.