Fractions of terms of punishment

When a sentence must be reduced to a fraction, treat imprisonment for life as equal to twenty years unless the law provides otherwise. Apply the fraction to 20 years to work out the shorter term. This rule guides calculations for remission, release or other fractional measures of sentence length.

Priya is sentenced to imprisonment for life and a rule allows release after serving half the sentence. Under this rule, life imprisonment is reckoned as 20 years, so half the term is treated as 10 years for the purpose of release.