New Delhi: The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the period of parole granted to a prisoner is to be excluded from the sentence while considering his premature release. Upholding a Bombay High Court order, a bench of justices M R Shah and C T Ravikumar said if the period is included in the sentence, then a prisoner who may be influential may get parole a number of times.
‘If the submission on behalf of the prisoners that the period of parole is to be included while considering 14 years of actual imprisonment is accepted, in that case, any prisoner who may be influential may get parole for a number of times as there is no restrictions and it can be granted a number of times and if the submission on behalf of the prisoners is accepted, it may defeat the very object and purpose of actual imprisonment. We are of the firm view that for the purpose of considering actual imprisonment, the period of parole is to be excluded. We are in complete agreement with the view taken by the high court holding so’, the bench said.
The top court was hearing an appeal filed by some convicts undergoing life imprisonment, who were released on parole under the provisions of the Goa Prisons Rules, 2006. All the petitioners had applied for a premature release under the 2006 rules and the State Sentence Revenue Board had recommended their premature release. The state government sought the convicting court’s opinion on the petitioners’ premature release.
The court opined that the convicts shall not be released prematurely, considering the gravity of their offence. Therefore, the state government rejected the petition seeking a premature release of the petitioners. The convicts then approached the Bombay High Court, challenging the state’s decision not to consider their case for a premature release. The apex court said the submission on behalf of the petitioners relying upon section 55 of the Prisons Act, 1894 that even on parole, prisoners shall be deemed to be in custody and therefore, the said period is to be included for the purpose of actual imprisonment had no substance.
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