Judgment

GUPTA, J. :- These are a group of four appeals from a common Judgment of the Andhra Pradesh High Court partly allowing two writ petitions, writ petition No. 1865 of 1976 filed by A. V. Rao, and writ petition No. 1870 of 1976 made by N. V. Krishnaiah. The High Court rejected the petitioners prayer for setting off under Section 428 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 the periods during which they were in preventive detention against the terms of imprisonment imposed on them on their conviction in a sessions trial, but accepted their contention that they were entitled to the benefit of the remission system under the Prisons Act, 1894 for the period during which they were in jail as undertrial prisoners before their conviction : Criminal Appeals Nos. 418 and 419 of 1976 by State of Andhra Pradesh are directed against the part of the High Courts Judgment granting the writ petitioners the benefit of the remision system under the Prisons Act treating for this purpose the period of undertrial detention on the same footing as a term of imprisonment on conviction. Appeal No. 418 arises out of a writ petition No. 1865 of 1976 filed by A. V. Rao and Appeal No. 419 is from writ peti