Deepak S/O Gulab Bhatambrekar vs State Of Mah. Thr. The Addl. I.G. Of ...
2021 Latest Caselaw 17719 Bom

Citation : 2021 Latest Caselaw 17719 Bom
Judgement Date : 21 December, 2021

Bombay High Court

Deepak S/O Gulab Bhatambrekar vs State Of Mah. Thr. The Addl. I.G. Of ... on 21 December, 2021

Bench: M.S. Sonak, Pushpa V. Ganediwala

4-CRI-WP-821-2021.odt                             1



           IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
                     NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR.

            CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION NO. 821 OF 2021

Deepak s/o Gulab Bhatambrekar,
aged about 35 years, Occ. Prisoner,
R/o At present District Prison - Amravati.
Prisoner No. C-5012
                                                        ...PETITIONER

              Versus

1. State of Maharashtra,
   through the Dy. Inspector General of Prison,
   Eastern Region, Wardha Road, Nagpur.

2. Superintendent of District Prison,
   Amravati.
                                                      ...RESPONDENTS

Mr. A.K. Bhangde, Advocate for the petitioner.
Mrs. N.R. Tripathi, A.P.P. for the respondents.

                       .....

              CORAM : M.S. SONAK AND
                      PUSHPA V. GANEDIWALA, JJ.
              DATED : DECEMBER 21, 2021.


JUDGMENT (PER : PUSHPA V. GANEDIWALA, J.) :

Rule. Rule is made returnable forthwith. Heard

finally with the consent of learned counsel appearing for the

parties.

2. The challenge in this petition, filed under Article

226 of the Constitution of India, is to the order dated

11/08/2021 passed by respondent No.1, whereby the

application of the petitioner for grant of furlough leave was

rejected. The petitioner is convicted for the offence punishable

under Sections 302, 148, 143 and 120B read with Section 149

of the Indian Penal Code.

3. It is stated that the petitioner is behind the bar

since more than six years. He had applied for furlough on

15/04/2020, which came to be rejected, as the father of the

petitioner refused to stand as surety for him.

It is further stated that the second application for

grant of furlough of the petitioner came to be rejected by

respondent No.1 under Rules 4(4), 4(6) and 4(10) of THE

Prisons (Bombay Furlough and Parole) Rules, 1959 ("Rules of

1959").

4. Mr. Bhangde, learned counsel for the petitioner,

submitted that the younger brother of the petitioner - Shankar

Gulab Gharbudve is now ready to stand as a surety and that he

is competent to act as surety for the petitioner. He submitted

that the rejection of furlough on the ground of public peace

and tranquility, without any material, is illegal, and thus

prayed for granting furlough to the petitioner.

5. On the contrary, Mrs. Tripathi, learned A.P.P., filed

reply-affidavit on behalf of respondent No.2, thereby opposed

the relief for grant of furlough to the petitioner.

6. We have considered the submissions put forth on

behalf of both the sides and perused the record.

7. At the outset, the eligibility of the petitioner for

grant of furlough is otherwise not disputed. Secondly, the

apprehension, as expressed by the respondents in the

impugned order for breach of public peace and tranquility if

the petitioner is released on furlough, is without any substance

on record. It appears since more than six years, the petitioner is

undergoing incarceration without any furlough or parole leave.

Furlough leave to the petitioner is rejected under Rules 4(4),

4(6) and 4(10) of the Rules of 1959. These rules are

reproduced below for ready reference :

"4. Eligibility for furlough.-

All Indian prisoners except from following categories whose annual conduct reports are good shall be eligible for furlough :-

(1) to (3) XXXX (4) Prisoners whose release is not recommended in Police Commissionerate area by the Assistant Commissioner of Plice and elsewhere, by the Deputy Superintendent of Police on the grounds of public peace and tranquility;

(5) XXXX (6) Prisoners whose work and conduct are, in the opinion of the Superintendent of the Prison, not satisfactory enough;

(7) to (9) XXXX (10) Prisoners who have at any time escaped or attempted to escape from lawful custody or have defaulted in any way in surrendering themselves at the appropriate time after release on parole or furlough;"

8. It appears while rejecting furlough application of

the petitioner, the respondents have wrongly applied Rule

4(10) of the Rules of 1959. The learned A.P.P. could not point

out from the documents on record that at any time, the

petitioner had escaped or attempted to escape from lawful

custody or have defaulted in any way in surrendering himself

at the appropriate time after his release on furlough or parole

leave. Secondly, neither the impugned order nor the reply on

behalf of the State suggest about the conduct of the petitioner

in jail, which in the opinion of the Superintendent of Prison, is

not satisfactory enough in terms of Rule 4(6) of the Rules of

1959. So also, as stated above, there is no substantive reason

mentioned in the impugned order for expressing apprehension

by the respondents for breach of public peace and tranquility.

9. The objectives for grant of furlough and parole

leave to the inmate have been brought by amending the Rules

of 1959, thereby adding Rule 1(A), which reads thus :

"1(A). Objectives:-

Furlough and Parole leaves to inmates are progressive measures of correctional services. The objectives of releasing a prisoner on leave are:-

(a) To enable the inmate to maintain continuity with his family life and deal with family matters,

(b) To save him from evil effects of continuous prison life,

(c) To enable him to maintain and develop his self-

confidence,

(d) To enable him to develop constructive hope and active interest in life."

10. Given the aforesaid facts and circumstances of the

case, so also considering the avowed objectives for grant of

furlough and parole leaves to the inmate, which are the

progressive measures of correctional services, we are of the

opinion that by imposing suitable conditions, the petitioner can

be released on furlough. Hence, the following order :