JUDGMENT :

Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud. J.

The petition under Article 32 of the Constitution has been instituted by a convict, who is undergoing a sentence of imprisonment for life upon being convicted for the commission of offences punishable, inter alia, under Section 302 read with Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code¹[“IPC”]. He seeks the issuance of a writ directing the first respondent to grant him pre-mature release. The factual background has been set out below.

Factual Background

2. The petitioner and co-accused came in a tractor carrying deadly weapons and assaulted the complainant and killed his father and brother, when they were sitting near a village pond along with other villagers. The cause of the enmity between the parties was the confiscation of shisham wood belonging to one of the co-accused by the forest department and the damage caused to his motorcycle and tractor, for which the accused persons suspected the complainant and his family. The trial court²[ST No 16/2006] convicted the petitioner and the other accused on 7 December 2010. The petitioner was convicted of offences under Sections 147, 148, 302/149 and 324/149 of the IPC and sentenced to life imprisonment. While