Governor, Mamta government spar over release of prisoners on I-Day

Kolkata, Aug 15 (IANS) A war of statements and counter-statement between the Raj Bhavan and the state secretariat in West Bengal has surfaced on the occasion of Independence Day over the list of prisoners who were supposed to be released on this auspicious occasion.

On one hand, the chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that the release of prisoners this year on the occasion of the Independence Day was not possible since the Governor’s House did not clear the list forwarded by the state secretariat.

The Governor’s House has issued a counter statement claiming that the file in the matter was not cleared as the state government did not give any reply to seven clarifications that the office of the Governor C.V. Ananda Bose had sought from the state government.

The Raj Bhavan has clarified that of the list of 87 prisoners whose names were proposed for release, as many as 16 were foreigners. The Raj Bhavan, sources said, sought a clarification from the state government in proposing the names of such prisoners of foreign-origin.

The Governor’s House, sources added, even asked the state home secretary and the director general (prison) to come to the Raj Bhavan for discussions on the matter. But they did not turn up and hence the entire process became uncertain.

Meanwhile, the state government has argued that a particular protocol is being followed in case of preparing the list of prisoners to be released on the occasion of the Independence Day which was followed this year as well.

Under the protocol, the first recommendation comes from the state correctional services department on the basis of the conduct of the prisoners housed in different correctional homes in the state. Then there are other departments, namely state home affairs, law and judicial departments that evaluate the list of recommendations sent by the state correctional services department.

Only after that the final list is prepared and sent to the Governor for the clearance from his office. “This time the same protocol was followed and the list has been returned. I do not remember such an event over the issue in the past,” said a senior official from the state correctional services department.