Section 57

The Indian Penal Code and related laws (like the old Prisons Act and rules on remission) often talk about fractions of a sentence — for instance, a prisoner becoming eligible for some benefit after serving a certain fraction of their term. But a 'life sentence' has no fixed number of years, so fractions of it can't be calculated directly. The British-era drafters of the IPC solved this by creating a fixed notional number (20 years) purely as a mathematical stand-in, so that other provisions requiring fraction-based calculations could still function without ambiguity.

The Supreme Court has repeatedly clarified that Section 57 is a narrow, technical fiction meant only for arithmetic purposes — it does not mean a life sentence actually lasts 20 years or that a prisoner is automatically freed after 20 years. In Gopal Vinayak Godse v. State of Maharashtra (1961), the Court held that life imprisonment means imprisonment for the remainder of the convict's natural life, unless it is commuted or remitted by the appropriate government under separate provisions (like Sections 432-433 of the CrPC). Later, in Union of India v. V. Sriharan (2015), a Constitution Bench reaffirmed this, stressing that Section 57 cannot be used to argue that 14 or 20 years of imprisonment automatically satisfies a life sentence.

• Myth: A person sentenced to life imprisonment will automatically be released after 20 years because of Section 57.
  Fact: Courts have clarified that Section 57 is only a mathematical fiction used to calculate fractions of a sentence for other legal purposes. Actual release still depends on remission or commutation granted under separate laws, and life imprisonment generally means imprisonment for the remainder of the convict's natural life unless remitted.
• Myth: Section 57 fixes the length of a life sentence at 20 years.
  Fact: It does not redefine or shorten a life sentence; it only provides a notional number to use when some other provision requires calculating a fraction of the sentence.