Sudhir @ Sonu vs State Of Nct Of Delhi
2010 Latest Caselaw 5238 Del

*           IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

+                            W.P.(CRL) 1110/2010

                                                        Decided on 18.11.2010
IN THE MATTER OF :
SUDHIR @ SONU                                             ..... Petitioner
                          Through: Mr. Simon Benjamin, Advocate

                    versus


STATE OF NCT OF DELHI                                ..... Respondent
                    Through: Mr. Sanjeev Bhandari, ASC for the State

CORAM

* HON'BLE MS.JUSTICE HIMA KOHLI

     1. Whether Reporters of Local papers may           No
        be allowed to see the Judgment?

     2. To be referred to the Reporter or not?          No

     3. Whether the judgment should be                  No
        reported in the Digest?


HIMA KOHLI, J. (Oral)

1. The present writ petition is filed by the petitioner under Article

226 of the Constitution of India read with Section 482 of the Cr.P.C praying

inter alia for grant of parole for a period of 3 months for the purpose of filing

a SLP before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, against the judgment

dated 03.05.2010 passed by the High Court, dismissing Criminal Appeal No.

258/2008 and for maintaining social ties with his family members and

society. The petitioner has been sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life

by the Learned ASJ in FIR No. 272/2003 registered at PS Dariya Ganj, under

Sections 302/394/34 IPC.

2. The Counsel for the petitioner states that the parole application

of the petitioner was not entertained by the Govt. of NCT of Delhi and the

same was returned without passing a written or speaking order, as the

petitioner was found ineligible for parole according to Para No. 11.2 of the

new guidelines issued by the Govt. of NCT of Delhi, under which it is

required that the conduct in prison, of the applicant seeking parole, must

have been uniformly good.

3. The nominal roll of the petitioner was called for. As per the said

nominal roll, against a quantum of sentence of life imprisonment and a fine

of Rs.5,000/- in default thereof, rigorous imprisonment for 5 months, the

petitioner has already undergone a sentence of six years, eleven months and

twenty days as on 21.08.2010 and earned remission for four months and

twenty five days. His jail conduct for the past one year is stated to be

satisfactory. The petitioner was also granted interim bail for two months,

from 24.09.2009 to 23.11.2009 and there is no report of any misconduct

during that period.

4. A status report is filed by the Superintendent of Prisons, Tihar

Jail, which states that the conduct of the petitioner has been unsatisfactory

in the last three years as he was punished on 21.03.2009 for attacking High

Risk prisoners. It further states that the parole application of the petitioner

was rejected by the Govt. of NCT of Delhi as the petitioner would be eligible

for parole only after three years from his punishment. Another status report

was filed by the Inspector (Investigation) of the concerned PS, which shows

that verification of the application of the petitioner was carried out by the

police authorities. On a perusal of the status report, it is found that the

family of the petitioner consisting of his parents and a younger brother and

sister are residing at the residential address of the petitioner at New Seelam

Pur, which is the address provided by the petitioner in the writ petition. It is

stated that the father and the brother of the petitioner earn handsome

amounts and are therefore capable of arranging for a private counsel for

drafting and filing the SLP before the Supreme Court. The status report

further states that the petitioner has been involved in four other criminal

cases other than the one arising from FIR no. 272/2003, subject matter of

present petition, out of which petitioner has been convicted in 01 case,

acquitted in 01 case, undergone sentence in 01 case and has compromised

01 case.

5. The ground taken by the petitioner for grant of parole in the

present petition is filing of SLP against the judgment of the High Court in Crl.

Appeal No. 258/2008. The desire of the petitioner to prepare his case, to his

utmost satisfaction, so that he may be able to effectively pursue his legal

remedy in the last court of appeal in the country, cannot be treated lightly.

The petitioner ought not to be denied parole for filing a SLP, particularly,

since his jail conduct for the last one year is stated to be satisfactory and

there is no pending case against him.

6. In this view of the matter, the present petition is allowed. The

petitioner is granted parole for a period of three weeks, subject to the

following conditions:-

(i) The petitioner shall furnish a personal bond in the sum of Rs.10,000/-

with one local surety of the like amount, to the satisfaction of the trial

court.

(ii) The petitioner shall report to the SHO of Police Station: Gokul Puri,

once a week on every Sunday at 10:00 AM and shall not leave the

National Capital Territory of Delhi during the period of parole.

(iii) The petitioner shall furnish a telephone number to the Jail

Superintendent on which he can be contacted, if required. After his

release, he shall also inform his telephone number to the SHO of the

police station concerned.

(iv) Immediately upon the expiry of period of parole, the petitioner shall

surrender himself before the Jail Superintendent.

(v) The petitioner shall furnish a copy of the SLP filed in the Supreme

Court to the Superintendent Jail at the time of surrendering.

(vi) The period of parole shall be counted from the day after the date when

the petitioner is released from jail.

7. The petition is disposed off.

DASTI.

A copy of this order be sent directly to the Superintendent Jail.

                                                                 (HIMA KOHLI)
NOVEMBER 18, 2010                                                   JUDGE
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