POCSO Convict Serving Life Sentence Granted 15-Day Parole By Rajasthan High Court For The Purpose Of Progeny

The Rajasthan High Court on Friday granted 15-day parole to a life convict on a petition filed by his wife, who is issueless and is desirous of retaining/maintaining her marriage with the convict and preserving her lineage.The bench of Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Sameer Jain took into account the young age of the convict-petitioner and ordered to release him on parole on his furnishing a personal bond in the sum of Rs. 2 Lakhs along with two surety bonds of Rs. 1 lakh each.The case in briefThe instant plea had been moved by a woman under Rajasthan Prisons (Release On Parole) Rules, 2021 on behalf of his husband, who was convicted under Sections 363, 366, and 376 (3) of IPC and 3/4(2) of the POCSO Act in June 2022 and is presently life sentence. The plea sought a direction for the release of the convict on emergent parole so that his wife may conceive a child for the purpose of preservation of their lineage, as per religious and cultural philosophies and for humanitarian aspects. It was submitted before the Court that the convict has served more than two years of imprisonment with remission.However, the State opposed the petition and submitted that since the woman's husband was convicted under POCSO Act for committing offences that are grievous in nature, his release would adversely affect society. It was his further submission that in Rajasthan Prisons (Release On Parole) Rules, 2021, there is no provision for releasing the petitioner on emergent parole on the ground of want of progeny.The High Court's observationsAt the outset, the Court referred to (and further relied upon) the ruling of the High Court in the case of Nand Lal Through His Wife Rekha v. State of Rajasthan 2022 LiveLaw (Raj) 122 (April 2022) wherein this very issue was involved and the Court's division bench had held the right or wish to have progeny would be available for a prisoner.For context, the bench of Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Farjand Ali, in the Nand Lal case had held that the denial to the convict-prisoner to perform a conjugal relationship with his wife, more particularly for the purpose of progeny would adversely affect the rights of his wife. In that very case, the Court had granted 15-day parole to the convict for progeny purposes.Read more about the case here: 'Denial To Prisoner To Perform Conjugal Relation For Progeny Would Adversely Affect Rights of His Wife', Rajasthan HC Grants 15 Days Parole To Life ConvictIn view of this and considering the peculiar facts of the case that the petition had been filed by the young wife of the convict, who is issueless and is desirous of retaining/maintaining her marriage with the convict (who is incarcerated for a long period of time) and for preserving the lineage, the Court allowed the writ petition and ordered to release the convict emergent parole for fifteen days.Our readers may note that the division bench's decision in the Nand Lal case was challenged before the Apex Court by the Rajasthan Government on the ground that the same was in violation of the Rajasthan Prisoners Release on Parole Rules, 2021 (2021 rules) as the convict in that very case was found guilty of committing murderIt was argued by the State Government that Section 16 (1) of the Parole 2021 rules specifically list out the ineligibilities for the release of prisoners on parole and that a person convicted under section 302 of the IPC has been mandatorily considered ineligible for release on parole. It was also argued that as per Section 17(d) of the 2021 rules, life sentences shall, for the purposes of these rules, be reckoned as 20 years, and admittedly, the Respondent therein had served only 6 years and 6 months of his sentence, thereby making him ineligible".Further, in August 2022, the Apex Court dismissed the challenge to the Rajasthan HC's order in August 2022 in view of the fact that the parole period of 15 days was already over. However, the Top court had observed that it had "reservations" about some observations made by the High Court's order.Significantly, while refusing to 'interfere' with the order and directions of the Rajasthan High Court, the Supreme Court had directed the State Government to raise their pleas with the high court in the case of future applications for parole or furlough.Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Raj) 246

POCSO Convict Serving Life Sentence Granted 15-Day Parole By Rajasthan High Court For The Purpose Of Progeny

Sparsh Upadhyay

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