Delhi High Court - Orders
Hopeson Ningshen vs The State on 7 December, 2020
Author: Yogesh Khanna
Bench: Yogesh Khanna
$~15
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ W.P.(CRL) 887/2020
HOPESON NINGSHEN ..... Petitioner
Through: Mr.Kaliomgem Zimik, and
Mr.Gaichangpou Gangme,
Advocates.
versus
THE STATE ..... Respondent
Through: Mr.Chaitanya Gosain, Advocate for
Mr.Rahul Mehra, Standing Counsel
(Crl.).
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE YOGESH KHANNA
ORDER
% 07.12.2020
1. The hearing has been conducted through Video Conferencing.
2. Vide the order dated 23.06.2020 it was observed that petitioner had applied for grant of parole to maintain social ties and such request was duly forwarded by the Jail authorities to Dimapur, Nagaland for address verification, but no such decision was ever communicated to the petitioner. A reminder dated 27.12.2019 was also sent
3. The report from the concerned police station was received by the Jail authorities, yet the petitioner was not informed about the same and he filed the Writ Petition (Crl) No.422/2020.
4. In the above writ, vide order dated 12.02.2020, this Court directed the concerned authorities to decide the application of petitioner as expeditiously as possible and in any event, within a period of three weeks from that date and communicate the same to the petitioner. The period of three weeks expired on 04.03.2020.
5. It is argued as per the Furlough and Parole Guidelines, such Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:KAPIL SHARMA Signing Date:08.12.2020 14:25 application is to be decided within four weeks and the decision thereon is to be communicated to the prisoners, hence such guideline is violated. The relevant rule notes:-
"1217. The Government shall decide the application for parole within 4 (four) weeks. The decision will be communicated to the Superintendent of Jail, who in turn will communicate the same to the prisoner/ convict. In addition, the Superintendent of Jail will ensure that a copy of the order is served on the convict/prisoner."
6. A reply was sought from the State qua the time taken in deciding the application; (b) why there was a delay in deciding the application of the petitioner and (c) why such order was never communicated to the petitioner timely.
7. Per order 02.09.2020, it is noted the reply of the State did not contain facts as to what happened to the parole request of the petitioner filed in November 2019 till 06.03.2020, hence, a complete reply was sought from the State as to how the application of the petitioner was processed by the competent authority after its filing in November 2019 and till it was disposed of.
8. A reply has now been filed by the respondent on record by the Deputy Secretary (Home) (General Department), GNCT of Delhi, which inter alia notes:-
"4. That, the Superintendent, Central Jail No. 14 Mandoli vide their letter dated 19.09.2020 has informed as under
(Annexure-II):-
a) The above said convict lodged in Central Jail No. 14, Mandoli, has filed an application on 10.12.2019, for grant of parole for 03 months on the grounds (i) to file SLP before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India against the impugned judgment dated 20.11.2019 of Hon'ble High Court of Delhi and (ii) to maintain social ties and family relations and to curb inner stress and depression due to Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:KAPIL SHARMA Signing Date:08.12.2020 14:25 incarceration.
b) After receiving the application from the convict the letter was sent to (i) the Sr. Superintendent of Police, Distt.
Dimapur, Nagaland and (ii) The Sr. Superintendent of Police, Dislt. Imphal, Manipur on 12.12.2019 for verification of the facts/contents of the application of the convict for grant of parole. Subsequent reminder letter vide dated 26.12.2019 and 03.01.2020 were also sent to the SSP, Dislt. Dimapur, Nagaland and Distt. Imphal, Manipur for seeking fact/content verification report. verification report was received from the Addl.Dy. Commisioner of Police (Crime), Dimapur, Nagaland on 12.01.2020.
5. That, the application for grant of parole in respect of said convict was forwarded by the Superintendent, Central Jail No. 14, Mandoli vide letter dated 06.03.2020 and received in this office on 09.03 .2020 (Annexure-III). While the case of said convict was being examined for processing, the Lock Down due to Pandemic disease COVID- 19 came into effect from 24.03.2020.
Further, the Government issued an order dated 27.03.2020, which included that All pending applications for grant of regular parole would be deemed to have been withdrawn in view of grant of emergency parole to the eligible convicts'. Accordingly, the application of the convict was deemed to have been withdrawn. (Annexure- IV)
6. That, the Prison Department had sent a proposal for grant of Emergency Parole to the convict, Hopeson ingshen S/o N.Pishang, which was not recommended for grant of Emergency Parole by the Screening Committee constituted to screen such cases vide order No. F.18/ l9l /20l5IHG/l428-1438 dated 27.03.2020 and accordingly, the same was not approved by the Hon'ble Minister Home for grant of emergency parole, which was communicated to Prison Department vide order No. F.18/ l9 1120l51HG1l489 dated 09.04.2020 (Annexure-V). Further, the case of the convict was again placed before the Screening Committee on 05.06.2020, which did not recommend for grant of emergency parole and the same was, therefore, not approved by the Hon'ble Minister Home for grant of emergency parole. This was communicated to the Prison Department vide order No. F.181l91 /20 15IHGI1837 dated 06.06.2020 (Annexure-VI).
Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:KAPIL SHARMA Signing Date:08.12.2020 14:257. That, a fresh parole application for grant of parole was forwarded by the Superintendent Jail, Central Jail No. 14, Mandoli vide letter dated 17.07.2020, and the same was considered and rejected with the approval of the Hon'ble Minister(Home) on 29.07.2020, which was communicated to the Prison Department vide order o.
F.18170/2020IHG/2383 dated 30.07.2020. (Annexure-VII)"
9. The reply filed reveals though on 12.01.2020 the verification report was received from Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Dimapur, Nagaland but there is no record what happened between 12.01.2020 till 06.03.2020 and thereafter the application for grant of Parole was forwarded by Superintendent, Central Jail No.14, Mandoli vide letter dated 06.03.2020 and received in this office on 09.03.2020. Hence it is clear the order dated 12.02.2020 of the Coordinate Bench of this Court was not complied with in true spirit.
10. Admittedly, the timeline in deciding the parole application has not been adhered to by the authorities concerned and neither the order dated 12.02.2020 was complied with, hence there appear to be negligence on the part of the concerned authorities. As the reply do not clarify as to who actually was responsible for such delay, hence I take a lenient view of the matter and direct the authorities concerned to circulate Rule 1217 (supra) to the officers concerned and call upon them to adhere to it without fail to decide such application within the time frame and to communicate its fate to convicts.
11. In view of above, the petition stands disposed of. Pending application, if any, also stands disposed of.
YOGESH KHANNA, J.
DECEMBER 07, 2020M Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:KAPIL SHARMA Signing Date:08.12.2020 14:25