Tanya Gupta
Published on: March 13, 2022 at 18:55 IST
In the Case of Ajit Singh Vs. State of Rajasthan, the Recommendation of the Respondent-State was Quashed by the Rajasthan High Court.
Due to the Petitioner’s Young Age, his Case was not Recommended by the Superintendent of Jail to be sent to the Open Air Camp.
The Committee recommended that since the Petitioner is Convicted under Section 376 of Indian Penal Code (IPC), Awarding him Life Imprisonment, he is not Liable to be sent to the Open Air Camp.
“We are of the Firm Opinion that this Observation made by the Committee in the Adverse Recommendations is absolutely Extraneous and Unwarranted. Merely because the Convict is of Young Age and other Ladies/ Girls are living in the Camp, that by itself would not imply that the Accused would Misbehave with them,” the Divisional Bench of Justices Sandeep Mehta and Rekha Borana noted.
In the instant Case, the Convict-Petitioner Ajit Singh filed a Writ Petition seeking to Challenge January 19, 2022, Open Air Committee’s recommendation, where his Application was Rejected.
After an Application is Rejected by the Committee, the Petitioner filed a Writ Application that was Accepted and further the Adverse Recommendations were Quashed by the Court.
In the light of the Court’s Judgement in Nirbhay Singh @ Nabbu Vs. State [(D.B. Criminal Writ No. 38/2018)], the Court directed the Respondents to reconsider the Petitioner’s Case and without turning to the Limitations in Rules 3 and 4 of the Rajasthan Prisoners Open Air Camp Rules, 1972.
Rule 3 Enlists the Classes of Prisoners that shall ‘Ordinarily be not Eligible’ for Open Air Camps.
In Nirbhay Singh it was simply held that ‘Ordinarily’ such Prisoners would be Ineligible to be sent to such Camps. Stating thereby that each Applicant’s Case is to be considered by the State and if the Applicant establishes a reason to Exclude him from the Scope of ‘Ordinarily be not Eligible,’ the Authority is Obligated to house the Prisoner in Open Jail.
The Court ruled,
“As a Consequence, the Impugned Recommendations 19.01.2022 issued by the Open Air Committee, Government of Rajasthan, Jaipur are hereby Quashed Qua the Petitioner. It is hereby directed that the Convict Petitioner shall forthwith be sent to the suitable Open Air Camp.”
The Court further Observed that the Indulgence so granted can always be Cancelled if any Convict is found Misbehaving as these Camps Motivate the Convict to display Good Behavior.