Greeva Garg
The Bombay High Court quashed an order issued by the superintendent of Nashik Open District Prison, rejecting the application of four convicts seeking emergency parole.
The four murder convicts had approached the Bombay High Court after their application was denied in April this year.
The four murder convicts were sentenced to life imprisonment by the Mangaon Sessions Court in Raigad District on April 17, 2015.
They later filed an appeal against their conviction in Bombay High Court in 2015.
The petitioners were granted emergency parole for 45 days on May 14, 2020, in accordance with Rule 19(1)(c) of The Prisons (Bombay Furlough and Parole) Rules, 1959.
The emergency parole was then extended as 30-day increments.
During the time of emergency parole, the Bombay High Court dismissed their appeal, upholding the lower court’s decision and ordering the petitioners to serve the remainder of their sentences. Following the court’s order, the convicts surrendered on March 25, 2021.
The convicts again moved another application for their release on emergency parole on March 26. The Superintendent of the Nashik Open District Prison denied the application as per the orders of the High Court to surrender and serve the remainder of the sentence by the convicts.
The division bench of Justice SS Shinde and Justice NJ Jamadar noted that since the convicts’ appeals were dismissed by the court, “It was necessary to direct that the petitioners surrender to undergo the remainder of the sentence. This direction, however, did not imply that the petitioners were not entitled to be released on parole again if they were otherwise eligible. The fact that the petitioners surrendered in accordance with the court’s order should have been construed in their favour as it demonstrated their good faith.”