Bhubaneswar: The home department has formed a committee to examine cases for release and remission of prisoners serving sentences in the wake of the Centre's approval to launch a scheme for prisoners on October 2 this year to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

ADG (prisons) Binyanand Jha said they had shortlisted 17 prisoners. "Of them, 16 have spent 66 per cent of their sentence, while the remaining one has spent 50 per cent of it. The two shortlisted women need to take care of their families," said Jha. Home department officials said special remission will not be given to prisoners who have been convicted for an offence for which death sentence has been accorded or where death sentence has been commuted to life imprisonment. Cases of convicts involved in serious and heinous crimes such as dowry death, rape, human trafficking and convicted under acts were also not considered.