‘Review premature release of 51-yr-old in jail for 32 yrs’
Times of India | 23 January 2026
Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the judicial department to reconsider the premature release of a 51-year-old man, who served a sentence for 32 years for murdering his former employer, stating "jails were renamed correctional homes" with the hope that inmates could be brought back to mainstream after reform.
The principal secretary of the judicial department was urged to reconsider and pass an order within three weeks. "‘Jails' were renamed ‘Correctional Homes' with the high hope that inmates will be brought back into the mainstream of society after undergoing reforms... several corrective measures were introduced," held the division bench of Justice Arijit Banerjee and Justice Apurba Sinha Ray.
Although the convict's prayer for premature release was considered in 2022 and the state sentence review board recommended his premature release, the judicial department refused approval, saying as the convict was about 51 years old, he could commit a further offence. "If after almost 32 years of serving a sentence, the convict's prayer for premature release is refused by the judicial department, the impression is that the state failed to discharge its obligation to reform the convict," the division bench held.
It stated the judicial department's logic was "more speculative than logical". "It is quite possible that after 32 years of incarceration, a petitioner is reformed. We do not see any reason to consider his prayer for premature release with an adverse presumption in mind," it held.
Babulal Jadab alias Babulal Yadav, along with his brother Kailash, was convicted of murdering their former employer on Sarat Bose Road. Both were sentenced to life imprisonment on April 27, 1995 and it was affirmed on appeal in 2007.