Definition
Reduction of sentence.
Reduction in sentence period by government.
Statutory Definition
BNS 2023.
Etymology & Origin
From Latin 'remissio' (a sending back, letting go, or releasing). In law, it signifies the executive act of releasing an offender from serving the full duration of their court-mandated sentence.
Full Legal Analysis
Remission is the reduction of the duration of a prison sentence without changing its fundamental character. For example, a 10-year rigorous imprisonment sentence may be remitted to 7 years. The nature of the sentence (rigorous) remains the same, but the period is reduced.
Remission is exclusively an executive power, not a judicial one. It is granted by the 'appropriate government' (State or Central) either as a general amnesty on national holidays or individually based on a prisoner's good conduct and jail recommendations.
However, there is a strict statutory limitation on this executive power. Under Section 475 of BNSS (formerly 433A CrPC), a person sentenced to life imprisonment for an offence punishable by death, or whose death sentence was commuted to life, cannot be released on remission until they have served an actual, physical minimum of 14 years in prison.
The Supreme Court held that the executive power of remission under Article 161 of the Constitution is not entirely bound by the 14-year restriction of CrPC 433A, but statutory remissions granted by prison authorities are strictly bound by it.
Advocates advising life convicts must meticulously track their 'earned remissions' (days earned for jail labor or good behavior), as these only count towards release after the mandatory 14 years of actual incarceration have been completed.
This Term in Indian Statutes
Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, 2023
"Power of the appropriate Government to suspend or remit sentences."
The procedural provision allowing the executive to shorten a judicially imposed sentence.
