The court established that an adverse police report does not alone justify the denial of ordinary leave for prisoners eligible under prison management rules.

K.BABU, J.

--------------------------------------

W.P (Crl) No.186 of 2026 ---------------------------------------

Dated this the 18^th day of February, 2026 JUDGMENT The petitioner is the mother of Convict No.203/2023 of Central Prison and Correctional Home, Viyyur, who is undergoing life imprisonment. Petitioner's son is accused No.2 in S.C.No.329 of 2020 on the file of the Additional District and Sessions Court, Irinjalakuda. Since 16.10.2019, he has been undergoing sentence. The petitioner's son applied for ordinary leave under Rule 397 of the Kerala Prisons & Correctional Services (Management) Rules, 2014 (for short ‘the Rules’).

2. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Public Prosecutor.

3. The learned counsel for the petitioner has taken me to the report of the Superintendent of the Prison concerned, wherein it is stated that, during the convict's imprisonment in the prison, the authorities did not notice any misconduct on his part and that he was a disciplined prisoner. The Superintendent of the Prison further reported that no disciplinary actions have been taken against the convict. The learned counsel for the petitioner further submitted that accused No.3 has been released on ordinary leave, who is on the same footing as that of the petitioner's son.

4. The learned Public Prosecutor submitted a report from the Superintendent of the Central Prison and Correctional Home, Viyyur. The relevant portion of the report reads thus: “Subsequently, this office sent letters on 29.05.2025 to the District Probation Office, Thrissur and the District Police Chief Thrissur Rural, for obtaining the required reports in this regard.

A favourable Probation Report was received on

02.07.2026 from the District Probation Office, Thrissur as per Letter No ADPO/TSR/ME-09/2025-26 dated 30.06.2025, and an unfavourable report was received on 02.08.2025 from the office of District Police Chief, Thrissur Rural, as per letter No D1-40657/2025/R(1) dated 08.07.2025.

As per rule no.397(1) of Kerala Prisons and Correctional Services (Management) Rules -2014, the Director General of Prisons & Correctional Services is the competent authority for granting first ordinary leave to the prisoners. Therefore, this office forwarded the prisoner's application along with the connected documents to the Prison Headquarters on

19/09/2025, and the decision is still pending in that office.”

5. Ordinary leave granted to a prisoner is a facet of the reformative process. It is one of the ways by which a prisoner can reform himself and mingle with society, transforming himself into a responsible citizen.

6. In Asfaq v. State of Rajasthan and Others ( 2017 KHC 6641 ), the Apex Court observed thus:

“14. 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, has to come out for some time so that he is able to maintain his family and social contact. This reason finds justification in one of the objectives behind sentence and punishment, namely, reformation of the convict. The theory of criminology, which is largely accepted, underlines that the main objectives which a State intends to achieve by punishing the culprit are: deterrence, prevention, retribution and reformation. When we recognise reformation as one of the objectives, it provides justification for letting of even the life convicts for short periods, on parole, in order to afford opportunities to such convicts not only to solve their personal and family problems but als