Conditions for granting leave to a convict must be justified and cannot be overly restrictive without clear reasoning.

J U D G M E N T

The petitioner is the mother of the accused No.2 in S.C.No.698/2019 on the files of the Additional Sessions Court, Ottapalam. The accused No.2 is undergoing imprisonment for life as Convict No.C-203/2023 in the Central Prison and Correctional Home, Thavanoor. The convict was granted ordinary leave as per Ext.P1 order. One of the conditions in Ext.P1 is that he shall not enter into the jurisdictional limits of Ottapalam Police Station and that he should not contact any of the residents in the said Police Station limit. The petitioner is aggrieved by the said condition.

2. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Senior Public Prosecutor.

3. The convict is a native of Ottapalam. His house is situated within the limits of Ottapalam Police Station, Palakkad. So the condition No.1 imposed will defeat the very purpose of granting ordinary leave. No reason has been shown in Ext.P1 order for imposing such stringent conditions. Hence, the condition imposed in Ext.P1 order that the convict shall not enter into the jurisdictional limits of the Ottapalam Police Station is hereby lifted. The convict shall report before the SHO, Ottapalam Police Station on every Monday at 10 am. He shall not contact the relatives of the deceased who are residing within the jurisdictional limits of Ottapalam Police Station. Condition No.4 will not stand in the way of the petitioner in entering into the jurisdictional limits of Ottapalam Police Station.

The writ petition is disposed of as above.