Bill tabled to ease procedure to grant temporary leave to detenus

The Tamil Nadu government on Monday tabled a Bill in the Assembly to amend a provision of the Goondas Act, 1982, to ease the procedure to grant temporary leave to detenus to attend the funerals of close relatives.

The Bill, tabled by Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise V. Senthil Balaji, seeks to amend Section 15 of the Act to include a fresh proviso that empowers the Commissioner of Police or the District Magistrate to release the detenus on temporary leave on certain occasions.

‘Close relative’ in this Act would mean “father, mother or husband, as the case may be, son, daughter, full brother or full sister,” the Bill reads. It may be recalled that The Hindu had in August last year reported that the State was set to ease the procedure.

Though the government received representations from the detenus or their relatives for grant of temporary release, mainly to attend the marriage of blood relatives or the funeral of close relatives, “despite sincere efforts, the representations are not able to be disposed of in time… due to the administrative procedures to be followed,” the Bill said.

The Committee for Revision of Criminal Rules of Practice of the Madras High Court had taken note of Section 15, the petitions filed before the court for grant of such relief and the constraints faced by the government. It recommended an amendment to Section 15 to delegate the powers for granting temporary release. “Accordingly the government, on careful consideration of the said recommendation, has decided to amend the said Act,” the Bill added.