Bengal Guv clears file relating to release of 71 prisoners on Durga Puja

Kolkata, Oct 14 (IANS) After a lot of dilly-dallying, West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose finally on Saturday released the file relating to the release of 71 prisoners locked in different correctional homes in the state on the occasion of the forthcoming Durga Puja festival.

It is learnt that although the state secretariat had sent the list of 71 prisoners to be released to Raj Bhavan quite some time ago, the file was not being cleared by the Governor's office.

Rather, the Governor's office forwarded a note to the state secretariat seeking clarifications on the criteria for which the state government has decided to release these 71 prisoners.

However, Raj Bhavan insiders said that the Governor agreed to clear the matter finally on Friday night, and sign the file concerned. A consent note regarding the matter has also been forwarded to the state secretariat from the Governor's office.

Political observers feel that this development is a positive signal about the possible improvement in the Raj Bhavan-state cecretariat relationship which had been turning bitter in the recent past on various issues especially with regard to appointment of interim vice-chancellors for the state universities.

This is not the first time that there had been a cold war between the Governor’s House and the state secretariat over the release of prisoners on special occasions.

Earlier, in August this year, the same war of statements between the two had surfaced over the state government’s proposal to release 87 prisoners on the occasion of Independence Day. At that time, the Governor's office objected to some names in the list provided by the state, especially on those 16 names, who were of foreign origin. Ultimately, in the midst of such controversies, the process of release could not be completed.

A particular protocol is being followed in case of preparing the list of prisoners to be released. 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 other departments namely state home affairs, law and judicial departments 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.