Rajasthan High Court: In a criminal writ petition seeking release on parole to attend wife’s delivery, a single-judge bench of Anoop Kumar Dhand, J., directed the District Magistrate to promptly decide petitioner’s pending parole application within four days from the date of this order, considering the urgency of the matter.
In the instant matter, the petitioner, a prisoner, filed a writ petition seeking his release on parole to attend the delivery of his wife. According to Rule 11(1)(v) of the Rajasthan Prisoners Release on Parole Rules, 2021 (Rajasthan Parole Rules), parole can be granted in cases of urgent humanitarian grounds, such as the delivery of a prisoner’s wife.
The petitioner submitted an application to the Superintendent of Jail for parole on the ground of his wife’s impending delivery. The application was forwarded to the District Magistrate, Dausa, on 22-12-2024. Despite the lapse of time, the application was not decided by the District Magistrate.
The petitioner argued that under Rule 23 of the Rajasthan Parole Rules, the application should have been decided within four days, but the same did not happened. However, the State opposed the petitioner’s request but did not provide sufficient arguments to counter the petitioner’s claim.
The Court acknowledged that emergent parole can be granted under Rule 11(1)(v) of the Rajasthan Parole Rules for the delivery of a prisoner’s wife. The Court noted that Rule 23 of the Rajasthan Parole Rules mandates that the District Committee must decide parole applications expeditiously, within four days of receipt. The Court stated that pendency of petitioner’s application which was submitted in December without valid reason, is a clear breach of Rule 23 of the Rajasthan Parole Rules.
The Court noted that without any justified reason, petitioner’s application was not decided by the District Magistrate/District Committee and this act of the authorities is not in consonance with the mandatory provisions contained under Rule 23 of the Rajasthan Parole Rules.
The Court highlighted the urgency due to the imminent delivery, which may occur at any moment. The Court directed the District Magistrate, Dausa, to urgently decide the pending application for parole within four days from the date of this order in accordance with the provisions of the Rajasthan Parole Rules. The Court disposed of the writ petition with the above direction.
[Himmat Singh v. State of Rajasthan, S.B. Criminal Writ Petition (Emergent Parole) No. 45/2025, Decided on 16-01-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case:
Mr. Tekchand Swami, Counsel for the Petitioner
Mr. Jitendra Singh Rathore, PP, Counsel for the Respondents
