Parole should be granted to facilitate rehabilitation and maintain family ties, and a mere conviction does not classify a prisoner as a hardened criminal.

JUDGMENT :

Tarlok Singh Chauhan, J.

The request made by the petitioner for releasing him on parole has been turned down by the respondents constraining him to file the instant petition for grant of the following substantive reliefs:

“(i) that the impugned rejection letter dated 3.9.2024, Annexure P-3 may kindly be quashed and set aside.

(ii) that the respondents may kindly be directed to grant parole to the petitioner for 42 days.”

2. Initially the objection raised by the respondents was that since the petitioner was not possessed or owner of any land in his name, therefore, he is not entitled to grant of parole.However, the petitioner has placed on record relevant revenue record evincing his being an agriculturist.

3. The only reason that was recorded by the respondents for refusing the grant of parole was that the agricultural activities would be carried out on behalf of the petitioner by his son.

4. Obviously such reason cannot withstand judicial scrutiny, more particularly, in light of the observations made by the Hon’ble Supreme Court while dealing with object of grant of parole in Asfaq vs. State of Rajasthan (2017) 15 SCC55, the relevant observations whereof read as under:-

“11. There is a subtle distinction between parole and furlough. A parole can be defined as conditional release of prisoners i.e. an early release of a prisoner, conditional on good behaviour and regular reporting to the authorities for a set period of time. It can also be defined as a form of conditional pardon by which the convict is released before the expiration of his term. Thus, the parole is granted for good behaviour on the condition that parolee regularly reports to a supervising officer for a specified period. Such a release of the prisoner on parole can also be temporarily on some basic grounds. In that eventuality, it is to be treated as mere suspension of the sentence for time being, keeping the quantum of sentence intact. Release on parole is designed to afford some relief to the prisoners in certain specified exigencies. Such paroles are normally granted in certain situations some of which may be as follows:-

(i) member of the prisoner's family has died or is seriously ill or the prisoner himself is seriously ill; or

(ii) the marriage of the prisoner himself, his son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, brother, sister, sister's son or daughter is to be celebrated; or

(iii) the temporary release of the prisoner is necessary for ploughing, sowing or harvesting or carrying on any other agricultural operation of his land or his father's undivided land actually in possession of the prisoner; or

(iv) it is desirable to do so for any other sufficient cause;

(v) parole can be granted only after a portion of sentence is already served;

(vi) if conditions of parole are not abided by the parolee he may be returned to serve his sentence in prison, such conditions may be such as those of committing a new offence; and

(vii) parole may also be granted on the basis of aspects related to health of convict himself.

15. A convict, literally speaking, must remain in jail for the period of sentence or for rest of his life in case he is a life convict. It is in this context that his release from jail for a short period has to be considered as an opportunity afforded to him not only to solve his personal and family problems but also to maintain his links with society. Convicts too must breathe fresh air for at least some time provided they maintain good conduct consistently during incarceration and show a tendency to reform themselves and become good citizens. Thus, redemption and rehabilitation of such prisoners for good of societies must receive due weightage while they are undergoing sentence of imprisonment.

17. From the aforesaid discussion, it follows that amongst the various grounds on which parole can be granted, the most important ground, which stands out, is that a prisoner should be allowed to maintain family and social ties. For this purpose, he has to come out fo