Baldev Singh vs State of Haryana

T.H.B. Chalapathi, J.

This case is registered on an application given by the convicts lodged in the District Jail, Sirsa, directing the Haryana Government to count parole or furlough leave of all the prisoners in the Haryana towards the sentence imposed on them. This application was presented to an Hon''ble Judge of this Court on the annual inspection of the Judicial Courts in Sirsa Sessions Divisions. As per the direction of the learned Judge, the same was registered on judicial side.

After considering the various authorities placed before me I give the following directions to the Director General of Prison, Haryana :

i) In the case of a life convict he has to undergo imprisonment for a period of at least 14 years though not continuously. The fact that he has been released on parole will not be counted for counting the period of 14 years of imprisonment. After excluding the period of parole if the life convict completes 14 years imprisonment, his case can be considered for release.

(ii) In the case of a convict who has been sentenced for a certain period (i.e. not life convict) the period of parole has to the counted towards the actual sentence, but not towards the total period of actual sentence. The authorities must bear in mind the judgment of this Court in Surinderjit Singh v. State of Punjab in Criminal Misc. No. 18621M of 1995 decided on July 24, 1996 wherein after considering the provisions of subsection (3) of Section 3 of the Punjab Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 1962 which corresponds to subsection (3) of Section 3 of the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 1988, the learned Judge observed as follows :

"The distinction of `actual sentence'' and `total sentence'' is relevant only when a convict has been sentenced to life imprisonment. When the convict has been sentenced to undergo the imprisonment for a specified period, in that case, the period of actual and total sentence would be the same. In the present case, the petitioner has been sentenced to undergo 10 years rigorous imprisonment for the offence under Section 304 PartI of the Indian Penal Code. The sentence of imprisonment imposed upon him for the offences under Sections 307/34 and 325 I.P.C. are to run concurrently with the above sentence. Therefore, the petitioner is required to undergo actual as well as the total sentence of 10 years. This period is to be calculated including the period of remissions earned by or granted to the petitioner. The inclusion of the parole period in the actual sentence and the exclusion thereof from the total sentence becomes meaningless in such a case."

Therefore the convicts have to complete the actual sentence including the period of remissions. Keeping the above observations in view, the authorities are directed to decide the cases of those convicts who have been sentenced for a specified term of imprisonment and while deciding whether, they are entitled to be released, the authorities concerned must keep in mind that the convicts have completed the actual/total period of sentence including the period of remissions.

With the above directions this petition is disposed of.