parole

Parole is short-term release of a prisoner on conditions, granted by the executive (usually the State Government or prison authorities) under State prison rules, for reasons such as illness or death in the family, a marriage or urgent personal matters. The sentence is not suspended or reduced; whether the parole period counts towards the sentence depends on the rules.

Do not confuse parole with furlough, which is periodic release as a reward for good conduct, without any special reason, and normally counts as part of the sentence. Nor is it probation, which is ordered by a court in place of sending the offender to prison at all. In evidence law, “parol” (without the e) means oral.

Example

The convict was released on parole for two weeks to attend his father's funeral and surrendered on the due date.

In Indian law

• Prisons Act, 1894 and State prison rules

See also

furlough · probation · remission · sentence

Read more in the study notes

• Alternatives to imprisonment: probation, open prisons, parole and furlough (Penology and Victimology)
• Offences against the State (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)
• Theories of punishment (Jurisprudence)
• Notion of punishment in law: meaning, history and purpose (Penology and Victimology)
• Crime prevention and crime control (Penology and Victimology)
• The prison system and prison reforms in India (Penology and Victimology)