Prisoners can get leave even if appeals against conviction are pending: Madras HC
The prison authorities are themselves empowered to grant such leave to the prisoners under the Tamil Nadu Suspension of Sentence Rules, 1982, the bench held.
Madras High Court (File)
CHENNAI: A larger bench of the Madras High Court held that prisoners could be allowed ordinary or emergency leave, even if their appeals against conviction are pending before any appellate court, provided they are not facing trial in any other case. The prison authorities are empowered to grant such leave to the prisoners under the Tamil Nadu Suspension of Sentence Rules, 1982, the bench held.
The bench comprising Justices SM Subramaniam, TV Thamilselvi, and Sunder Mohan dealt with conflicting views taken by two division benches of the court in interpreting the Tamil Nadu Suspension of Sentence Rules, 1982, while granting leave to convicts.
Perusing the rules and going through the division benches' orders, the larger bench remarked that "every rule requires to be interpreted in a liberal manner to achieve its object, of course, not in a negative sense, to the benefit of a prisoner".
Pronouncing its order, the bench observed, "Hence, under Rule 35, the competent prison authority, the inspector general of prisons or the superintendent of prisons, is empowered to grant ordinary leave or emergency leave to a prisoner during the pendency of a criminal appeal before any of the appellate courts," it held. However, the judges excluded those convicts facing trial in other cases during the incarceration from availing the concession.
The Madras High Court bench also made it clear that no prisoner can claim leave as a matter of right, stating that it was a concession granted to the prisoner in the context of reformation, hence competent authorities should consider the leave application with reference to the eligibility and by following due process.
State Public Prosecutor Hasan Mohammed Jinnah, who assisted the bench, also made a submission that denying leave to the convicts due to the pendency of criminal appeals is causing huge difficulty for them to avail leave in emergency situations.
The bench also held that the period of detention during remand or judicial custody should not be calculated and only the period of actual imprisonment sentenced by the trial should be reckoned when considering leave applications filed by the prisoners.
The government is empowered to grant exemption to a prisoner warranting an urgent release from all or any of the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Suspension of Sentence Rules, 1982, as such power is conferred on the government under Rule 40, to mitigate certain emergency circumstances, if it arises, the bench further held.
