IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA.

CWP No. 8782 of 2023 Decided on: 01.12.2023 Sanjay Tomar …Petitioner Versus State of H. P. & Ors. …Respondents Coram:

Hon’ble Mr. Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan, Judge.

Hon’ble Mr. Justice Satyen Vaid ya, Judge.

Whether approved for reporting? ¹ No.

For the Petitioner : Mr. Hemant Kumar Thakur, Advocate.

For the Respondents : Mr. I. N. Mehta, Sr. Addl. A.G. with Ms.

oSharmila Patial and Mr. Navlesh Verma, Addl. A.G.

Tarlok Singh Chauhan, Judge (Oral)

The instant petition has been filed for grant of the following substantive reliefs:-

(i) That the rejection letter dated 14.09.2023 (Annexure P- 4) issued by respondent No. 2 whereby the claim of the H petitioner for grant of parole has been rejected may very kindly be quashed and set aside.

(ii) That the respondents may very kindly be directed to grant parole for 42 days to the petitioner, in the interest of justice and fair play.

2. The sole ground on which the respondents have opposed the claim of the petitioner is that he could be involved in another offence. However, there is nothing on record to substantiate this apprehension.

1 Whether reporters of the local papers may be allowed to see the judgment? yes

3. In Asfaq vs. State of Rajasthan (2017) 15 SCC 55, the Hon'ble Supreme Court has enunciated the objectives in paras 11, 15 and 17 to 24, which read as undeHr:-

“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 ofÏcer for a specified period. Such a release of the prisoner on parole can also be temporarily Con 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 hon 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 sufÏcient 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 sHerve 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.

CConvicts 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 i sentence of imprisonment.

17. From the aforesaid discussion, it follows that amongst the various grounds on wh