A convict who has served more than 15 years of imprisonment is entitled to premature release unless strong reasons are provided by the State authorities to justify continued custody.

I.S.Tiwana, J.

1. No reply has been filed inspite of the long adjournment granted to the respondents on 11.12.1987 for the said purpose. In the absence of the same, the facts stated in the petition have obviously to be taken as correct for purpose of tis judgment.

2. As per the petitioner, who was arrested on 19.5.1978 and convicted on 4.10.1978 under sections 302/34, Indian Penal Code, he had already undergone 15 years and 27 days imprisonment including remissions by the time he filed this petition on 24.11.1987. Even after that, he continues to be in custody. His claim is that, in the light of paragraph 516-B of the Punjab Jail Manual read with the instructions, Annexure P1 and P2, issued by the State Government on 12.5.1977 and 29.12.1986 respectively, laying the guidelines for release of convicts like him, he was entitled to be released with the completion of 14 years sentence including remissions. It is also his case that, as a matte of fact, the Superintendent of Jail, Jalandhar, had recommended his case for such a release but he never heard anything thereafter. Keeping in view the law enunciated by the Supreme Court in Lale v. State of U.P., 1987 Supreme Court Cases (Cr.) 244 and Delhi High court in Criminal Writ Petition No. 272 of 1985 (Bachan Singh v. State (Delhi Admn) (Annexure P3) decided on 27.5.1986, a convict who has already undergone more than 15 years of imprisonment should, in the normal course, be released from jail unless the State authorities have a very strong reason not to do so. As indicated earlier, no reason of any sort has been shown by the respondents as to why the petitioner is not entitled to the premature release.

3. For the foregoing reasons, I allow this petition and direct the respondent-State to release the petitioner from jail forthwith.