The Chhattisgarh High Court has directed the District Magistrate of Koriya District to consider the parole application of a convict petitioner in 15 days.
The petitioner, Ram Lal, has been serving a sentence for life imprisonment for an offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code.
Nishi Kant Sinha, Advocate for the Petitioner, said the petitioner’s application for grant of parole has been rejected by the District Magistrate of Koriya only on the ground that the concerned Superintendent of Police has not accorded his consent for release of the petitioner.
He submitted that the order passed by the District Magistrate is absolutely unjustified without following the principle of law laid down by this Court in the cases of Rakesh Shende vs. State of C.G. in WPCR No.29/2016 decided on 18.11.2016 and Santhram Sinha vs State of C.G. in WPCR No.182/2015 decided on 07.01.2016.
It is further alleged that there is no such reason assigned by the District Magistrate that the petitioner’s release on parole would be detrimental to public safety or peace and only on the said ground petitioner’s right to release on parole cannot be rejected, the counsel claimed.
A single-judge bench of Sanjay Kumar Agarwal observed the petitioner’s application has been rejected only the ground that the concerned SP has not accorded his consent for releasing him, which cannot be a ground for not releasing the petitioner and also no finding has been given that the petitioner’s release on parole would be detrimental to public safety or peace.
Therefore, while disposing of the petition, the court ordered that “the matter is remanded to the concerned District Magistrate for considering the petitioner’s application afresh in the light of the decision rendered by this Court in the case of Rakesh Shende (supra) and Santhram Sinha (supra) within 15 days from the date of receipt of the copy of this order.”
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