The Act provides specific criteria for the temporary release of 'hardcore prisoners,' and violations of conditions of temporary release can lead to permanent debarment from future release.

JUDGMENT :

SUVIR SEHGAL, J.

1. The Court has been convened through video conferencing due to Covid-19 pandemic.

2. This criminal writ petition has been filed seeking setting aside of the order 03.01.2020, Annexure P-1, whereby application of the petitioner for release on parole for house repair has been rejected and for grant of Parole for four weeks in view of Section 3(1)(d) of the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 1988 (for brevity hereinafter referred to as “the Act”).

3. Facts, in a nutshell leading to the filing of the present petition, are that the petitioner has been convicted and is undergoing sentence of rigorous imprisonment of ten years in FIR No. 94 dated 06.05.2009 under section 392, 394 and 397, IPC and section 25 of Arms Act, 1954 at PS GRP, Karnal. CRA-S-23- SB-2010 titled as Bhim Singh and others versus State of Haryana, against the conviction and sentence passed by the trial court was dismissed by this Court on 10.03.2015. The petitioner is lodged in District Jail, Panipat and has undergone a continuous sentence of more than five years. He has old parents and there is no other member in the family to take care of them. He submitted an application dated 31.12.2019, Annexure P-1, for parole for house repair which has been rejected by respondent No.5 vide the impugned order on the ground that he is a “hardcore prisoner”.

4. Counsel for the petitioner has placed reliance upon sub-section (v) of section 2(aa) of the Act to submit that as the petitioner had surrendered within ten days from which date he should have so surrendered on the expiry of the parole period, he could not be labelled as a “hardcore prisoner”.

5. The respondents have filed reply and opposed the petition on the ground that the petitioner is a “hardcore prisoner” and has been convicted for henious crimes in three different criminal cases and had violated the condition of temporary release by surrendering late when he was previously released on parole, therefore, he is debarred from temporary release/furlough as provided in proviso to section 5A(2) of the Act.

6. I have heard the counsel for the parties and considered their arguments.

7. Before dealing with the argument raised by the counsel for the petitioner, section 2 (aa) and section 5A of the Act deserve to be noticed and are reproduced hereunder:

"(aa) "hardcore prisoner" means a person-

(i) Who has been convicted of -

(1) robbery under section 392 or 394 IPC;

(2) dacoity under Section 395, 396 or 397 IPC;

(3) kidnapping for ransom under section 364-A IPC;

(4) murder or attempt to murder for ransom or extortion under Section 387 read with 302 or section 387 read with 307 IPC;

(5) rape with murder under section 376 read with 302 IPC

(6) rape with a woman below sixteen yeas of age'

(7) rape as covered under Section 376A, 376D or 376E IPC.

(8) serial killing i.e. murder under section 302 IPC in two or more cases in different First Information Reports;

(9) murder under section 302 IPC, if the offender is a contract killer as apparent from the facts mentioned in the judgment of the case;

(10) lurking house trespass or house breaking where death or grievous hurt is caused under section 459 or 460 IPC;

(11) either of offences under sections 121 to 124A IPC;

(12) immoral trafficking under Section 3, 4 or 5 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (104 of 1956 involving minors or under Section 366-A, 366-B, 372 or 373 IPC.

(13) offence under section 179(c) or 18(b) of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (Central Act 61 of 1985); or

(14) offence under section 14 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (Central Act 32 of 2012); or

(ii) who during a period of five years immediately before his conviction has earlier been convicted and sentenced for commission of one or more offences mentioned in Chapter XII or XVII of IPC, except the offences covered under clause (i) above, committed on different occasions not constituting part of the same transaction and as