JUDGMENT

Dr. Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, CJI. - On 6 September 2022, this Court in its judgment in Rashidul Jafar @ Chota Vs State of Uttar Pradesh & Anr [Writ Petition (Criminal) No 336 of 2019] issued a slew of directions governing the premature release of persons sentenced to suffer imprisonment for life consequent upon their conviction under diverse provisions of the Indian Penal Code.

2. Following the above decision, this Court has been repeatedly moved in petitions under Article 32 of the Constitution of India for securing the premature release of individual convicts because their cases for premature release have not been considered.

3. Under the Uttar Pradesh Prisoners (Release on Probation) Act 1938, cases for premature release of prisoners sentenced to imprisonment for life and undergoing the sentence in the prisons of the State are considered under Form 'A'. The State of Uttar Pradesh formulated the Uttar Pradesh Prisoners (Release on Probation) Rules 1938. Rule 4 of the Rules is in the following terms :-

"4. Eligibility for release.-Any prisoner other than a prisoner spec