The Good Prisoner Act

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Punjab Act No 11 of 1962 Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary)
Release
THE PUNJAB GOOD CONDUCT PRISONERS (TEMPORARY)
RELEASE ACT 1962
Punjab Act No 11 of 1962
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(Rec~ived the assent of the President of India ontthe 19th May 1962 and first published
for feneral information in the Punjab Government Gazette(Extraordinary),Legislative
Supplement .of the 19th June 1962
AN
, ACT
To pr9vide for the temporary release of prisoners for good conduct on certain
Conditions. .
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Be it [enacted by the Legislature of the state of Punjab in the thirteenth year of the
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Republic ofIndia as follows:-
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1. ! SHORT TITLE. EXTENT AND COMMENCEMENT
(l) ~hiS Act may be called the ~Unjab Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary
Release) Act, 1962.
(2)! It extends to the whole of the state of Punjab.
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(3); It shall come into force on such date as the State Goverrunent may, by
notification in the official Gazette, appointed
2. , In this Act unless the context otherwise requires>
father, mother, brother or sister of the prisoner.
(a) "District Magistrate" means the District Magistrate of the District within
whose jurisdiction the prisoner after his temporary release under this Act
is likely to reside during the period of his release.
(b) "Members of prisoner's family" means the husband, wife, son, daughter,
(c) "Prescribed" means prescribed by-rules made under this Act;
(d) "Prisoner" means a person confined in prison under a sentence of
imprisonment;
(e) "Superintendent of Jail" means the Superintendent of the Jail in which the
prisoner is undergoing his sentence of imprisonment.
3. (1) The State Government may, in consultation with the District Magistrate
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and subject to such conditions and in such manner as may b~'pr~scribed, release
temporarily for a period specified in sub- section (2) any prisoner if the state
Government is satisfied that-

(a) a member of the prisoner's family has died or is seriously ill; or
(b) the marriage of prisoner's son or daughter is to be celebrated or;
(c) the temporary release of the prisoner is necessary for sloughing, sowing
or harvesting or carrying on any other agricultural operation on his land
and no friend of the prisoner or a member of prisoner's family is prepared
to help him in this behalf in his absence; or
~-:£siL~It is desirable so to do for any other sufficient cause.
I (2) The p:riOd for whicha pri:~~:::; ~ :I~~s;d~h;iibedetermined by
I the State Government so as not to exceed:-
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(3) The period ofrelease under this section shall not count towards the total
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(a) where the prisoner is to be released on the ground specified in clause
(a) of sub-section (1), two weeks;
(b) where the prisoner isTo be relea7ed on the ground specified in clause
(b) or clause (d) of sub-section (1), four wee~s; and
(c) where the prisoner is to be released on the ground specified in clause
sub-section (l)~
period of the sentence of a prisoner.
it's power under this section in respect of all or any of the ground specified
(4) The State Government may by notification authorize any officer to exercise
therein.
who has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than five years, and
4. (1) The State Government or any other officer authorized by it in this behalf may,
in consultation with the District Magistrate and subject to such conditions and in
such manner as may be prescribed, release temporarily, on furlough, any prisoner
who:-
(a) has immediately before the date of his temporary release,
undergone imprisonment for a period o~ three years, excluding
'ff •
remissions; and .'
earned at least three annual good conduct remissions;
(b) has not during such period committed any jail offence and has

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Provided that nothing herein shall apply to a prisoner who-
(i) is a habitual offender as defined in clause (3) of section 2 of the
Punjab Habitual Offenders (Control and Reforms) Act, 1952, or
(ii) has been convicted of robbery or dacoity or such other offence /.3q1J....<,\1nL
as the State Government may, by notification, specify.
(2) The period of furlough for which a prisoner is eligible under sub-
section (l) shall be three weeks during the first year of his release and two
v:,.eeks during each successive year thereafter.
(3) Subject to the provisions of clause (d) of sub-section (3) of section 8,
the period of release referred to in sub-section (I) shall count towards the
total period of the sentence of a prisoner.
5. For the purpose of calculating the temporary release of a prisoner under section 3
and 4, the days of departure from and arrival at the prison shall be excluded.
6. Notwithstanding anything contained in section 3 and 4 , no prisoner shall be
entitled to be released under this Act if, on the report of the District Magistrate,
the State Government or an officer authorised by it in this behalf is satisfied that
his release is likely to endanger the security of the State or the maintenance of
public order.
7. If on the report of the District Magistrate, the State Government is satisfied that a
prisoner's family cannot bear the expenses of his journey from and to the prison
after his temporary release under this Act, the expenses may be borne by the State
Government to such extent and in such manner as may be prescribed.
8. (l) On the expiry of the period for which a prisoner is released under this Act, he
shall surrender himself to the Superintendent of the Jail from which he was
released.
(2) If a prisoner does not surrender himself as required by sub-section (1) with in a
period of ten days from the date on which he should have so surrendered, he may
be arrested by any police officer without a warrant and shall be remanded to
undergo the un-expired portion of his sentence.
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(3) If a prisoner surrender himself to the Superintendent of the Jail from which he

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was released with in a period of ten- days of the date on which he should have so
surrendered, but fails to satisfy the Superintendent of the Jail that he was
prevented by any sufficient cause from surrendering himself immediately on the
expiry of the period for which he was released, all or any of the following
penalties shall, after affording the prisoner a reasonable opportunity of being
heard, be awarded to him by the Superintendent of the Jail, namely:-
(a) a maximum cut of five days' remission for each of overstay.
(b) Stoppage of canteen concessions for a maximum period of one month;
(c) Withholding concession of either interviews or letters or both for a
maximum period of three months
(d) the period of temporary release on furlough of the prisoner under
section 4 shall not be counted toward his sentence.
(e) Warning;
(f) Reduction from the status and grade of "Convict Watchman" or
"Convict Overseer".
9. Any prisoner who is liable to be arrested under sub-section (2) of section 8, shall
be punishable with imprisonment of either description which may extend to two
years or with fine or with both.
Explanation - The punishment in this section is in addition to the punishment
10. (1) The State Government may by notification make rules for carrying out the
awarded to the prisoner for the offence for which he was convicted.
purposes of this Act,
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power,
such rules may provide for -
(a) the execution by the prisoner (including his sureties) of bond for his
good behaviour during the release period and for his surrender on the
expiry of such period.
(b) the amount for which and the form and manner in which such bonds
shall be furnished;
'"Cc) the forfeiture of the amount of bonds in caseof breach of any of it's

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terms;
(d) the conditions on which and the manner in which prisoners may be
released temporarily under this Act;
(e) the manner in which the District Magistrate shall be consulted before
a prisoner is released;
(f) the extent to which and the manner in which journey expenses of poor
prisoners shall be borne by the State Government.
11. The Pepsu Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 1954 (Pepsu Act
11 of 1954), is hereby repealed:
Provided that such repeal shall not affect -
(a) the previous operation of the Act so repealed or anything duly done or
suffered thereunder; or
(b) any right, privilege, obligation or liability acquired or incurred under
the Act so repealed; or
(c) any penalty forfeiture or punishment incurred in respect of any
offence committed against the Act so repealed; or
(d) any investigation, legal proceeding or remedy in respect of any such
right, privilege, obligation, liability, penalty, forfeiture or punishment
as aforesaid:
and any such investigation, legal proceeding or remedy may be instituted;
continued or enforced, and any such penalty, forfeiture or punishment may be
imposed, as if this Act had not been passed:
~rovided further that anything done or any action taken under the Act so repealed
shall be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provision of
this Act and shall continue to be in force accordingly unless and until superseded
by anything done or any action taken under this Act.
17986 L.R. - 1,500 - i /·9-62 & S Pb., Chandigarh
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