Parole granted to convict after wife expressed desire to have children: Rajasthan High Court
The High Court of Rajasthan, through learned judge, Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Farjand Alim in the case Nand Lal v State (D.B. Criminal Writ Petition No. 10/2022) granted parole to convict after wife expressed desire to have children.
BRIEF FACTS OF THE CASE: The writ petition was filed by convict-prisoner Nand Lal through his wife Smt. Rekha seeking emergent parole under Rule 11 (1) (iii) of the Rajasthan Prisoners Release On Parole Rules, 2021 on the ground of want of progeny. The convict-prisoner Nand Lal lodged at the Central Jail, Ajmer was serving the sentence awarded to him by the learned Additional District & Sessions Judge No.1, Bhilwara vide judgement dated 06.02.2019. Till the date of filing the petition, he had undergone imprisonment of around six years out of sentence of life imprisonment awarded to him including remission. The learned Additional Government Advocate on behalf of the respondent State of Rajasthan argued that the case of the convict-prisoner did not fall within the ambit of Rule 11 of the Rules of 2021 and thus, grant of emergent parole was objected. However, he too was not in a position to rebut the fact that work and conduct of the convict-prisoner had been satisfactory during his confinement in the prison.
JUDGEMENT: After hearing the contentions raised by both the parties, the court remarked “As mentioned above, the right of progeny can be performed by conjugal association, the same has an effect of normalising the convict and also helps to alter the behaviour of the convict-prisoner. The purpose of parole is to let the convict re-enter into the mainstream of the society peacefully after his release. The wife of the prisoner has been deprived of her right to have progeny whilst she has not committed any offence and is not under any punishment. Thus, denial to the convict-prisoner to perform conjugal relationship with his wife more particularly for the purpose of progeny would adversely affect the rights of his wife”. The court relied on the decision in the case Jasvir Singh and Another v. State of Punjab 2015 Cri LJ 2282, and granted parole of 15 days to the prisoner.
JUDGEMENT REVIEWED BY – AMRUTHA K