HC expresses concern over prisoners unaware of right to be considered for parole

The Rajasthan High Court has expressed concern that many prisoners are not aware of their right to be considered for parole and directed that jail superintendents must let eligible convicts know.

Jodhpur (Rajasthan): The Rajasthan High Court has expressed concern that many prisoners are not aware of their right to be considered for parole and directed that jail superintendents must let eligible convicts know.

The court also directed the Rajasthan State Legal Services Authority to prepare a computerised database of convicts lodged in prisons of the state in coordination with the director-general of prisons.

This database shall include details like date of arrest of a convict, sentence served, jail punishment, if any, period of abscondance, if any, and paroles granted, if any. The court sought a compliance report on September 14.

A division bench of justices Sandeep Mehta and Manoj Kumar Garg issued the directions in a case wherein the petitioner was granted parole after serving 14 years of his jail term. 'It is indeed a pathetic state of affairs that the convict petitioner herein, has been granted first parole after serving imprisonment of 14 years,' the court stated.

The bench stated it has come across numerous cases wherein convicts have been languishing in prisons for prolonged periods as they are unable to avail the facility of parole because of poverty, illiteracy or other trivial reasons.

'It shall be the duty of the superintendent of jail concerned to inform all eligible prisoners of their right to be considered for being released on parole as soon as their cause becomes ripe,' it said.

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The petitioner in the case, Rakesh, has been undergoing life imprisonment at the Open Air Camp in Barmer and has served imprisonment of over 14 years. He filed an application for release on his first parole of 20 days, which was accepted by the District Parole Advisory Committee, Jodhpur.

Citing poverty and other impediments, the convict moved a petition for relaxation in surety bonds for parole. A status report ordered by the court confirmed his condition.

With this consideration and expression of surprise on not getting parole in such a long period, the court extended the permission of 20 days' parole to 40 days with a personal bond of Rs 1,00,000, only to the satisfaction of the superintendent of Barmer district jail. The court also directed that a prominent signboard should be installed at the entries of all central jails, displaying in Hindi the gist of Rule 10 of the Rajasthan Prisoners Release on Parole Rules, 2021.

As per Rule 10 of the Rajasthan Prisoners Release on Parole Rules, 2021, every prisoner who has served a particular part of his sentence (the minimum in case of life convicts is five years) earns a right to be considered for release on parole.

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PTI