The Madhya Pradesh government has proposed a policy providing for life sentence till death for those held guilty of offences like gang rape and terrorist acts, amid widespread criticism of the Gujarat government granting remission to the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case.

Convicts in such cases will not be released after the completion of 14 years in jail, which is the minimum term of life sentence. “Under the proposed new policy, those serving life sentence for crimes like the rape of a minor, gang rape, terrorist activities, making hooch, foreign currency-related offences and murder of two or more persons will have to remain in prison till their last breath,” a senior official in Madhya Pradesh said on Friday.