Delhi High Court
Chiranji Lal vs State Of Nct Of Delhi on 12 November, 2010
Author: Hima Kohli
Bench: Hima Kohli
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ W.P.(CRL) 1178/2010
Decided on 12.11.2010
IN THE MATTER OF :
CHIRANJI LAL ..... Petitioner
Through: Ms. Charu Verma, Advocate
versus
STATE OF NCT OF DELHI ..... Respondent
Through: Mr. Navin Sharma, APP for the State
CORAM
* HON'BLE MS.JUSTICE HIMA KOHLI
1. Whether Reporters of Local papers may No
be allowed to see the Judgment?
2. To be referred to the Reporter or not? No
3. Whether the judgment should be No
reported in the Digest?
HIMA KOHLI, J. (Oral)
1. The present writ petition is filed by the petitioner under Article 226 of the Constitution of India read with Section 482 of the Cr.P.C praying inter alia for grant of parole for a period of 3 months for the purpose of filing a SLP before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, against the judgment dated 29.07.2009 passed by the High Court, dismissing Criminal Appeal No. 307/2007 and for re-establising social ties with his family members. The petitioner has been sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life by the Learned ASJ in FIR No. 436/2001 registered at PS Gokul Puri, under Sections 363/364-A/376/302 IPC.
2. The Counsel for the petitioner states that the order dated W.P.(CRL) 1178/2010 Page 1 of 4 21.06.2010 passed by the Govt. of NCT of Delhi, rejecting the application of the petitioner for grant of parole may be set aside. A perusal of the order of rejection shows that parole has been denied on the ground that the petitioner has been convicted for the rape and murder of a minor girl and hence, would not be eligible for parole as per the new parole/furlough guidelines of 2010. It further states that the petitioner has a property near the residence of the victim's guardians and has a history of having threatened them in the past.
3. The nominal roll of the petitioner was called for. As per the said nominal roll, against a quantum of sentence of life imprisonment and a fine of Rs.3,000/- in default thereof, simple imprisonment for 3 months, the petitioner has already undergone a sentence of eight years, seven months and nine days as on 14.07.2010 and earned remission for one year, two months and fifteen days. His jail conduct for the past one year is stated to be satisfactory.
4. A status report is filed by the SHO of the area, which shows that verification of the application of the petitioner was carried out by the police authorities. The residential address of the petitioner at Gokul Puri is found to be correct. Petitioner's parents and brother reside at the said address, whereas his wife and two children reside in village Pattan, Tehsil and Police Station Basi, District Jaipur, Rajasthan. The petitioner's brother is employed as a private driver and earns Rs. 6,500/- per month. It is stated that the victim and her family live less than half a kilometer away from the house of the petitioner at Gokul Puri and they are apprehensive of being threatened by the Petitioner. It is however confirmed that there is no other criminal W.P.(CRL) 1178/2010 Page 2 of 4 case pending against the petitioner.
5. The ground taken by the petitioner for grant of parole in the present petition is filing of SLP against the judgment of the High Court in Crl. Appeal No.307/2007. The petitioner ought not to be denied parole for filing a SLP particularly, since his jail conduct is stated to be satisfactory and there is no pending case against him.
6. In this view of the matter, the present petition is allowed. The petitioner is granted parole for a period of four weeks, subject to the following conditions:-
(i) The petitioner shall furnish a personal bond in the sum of Rs.10,000/-
with one local surety of the like amount, which shall be one of his family members, to the satisfaction of the trial court.
(ii) The petitioner shall not approach the victim or any of her family members during the period of parole.
(iii) The petitioner shall report to the SHO of Police Station: Gokul Puri, once a week on every Sunday at 10:00 AM and shall not leave the National Capital Territory of Delhi during the period of parole.
(iv) The petitioner shall furnish a telephone number to the Jail Superintendent on which he can be contacted, if required. After his release, he shall also inform his telephone number to the SHO of the police station concerned.
(v) Immediately upon the expiry of period of parole, the petitioner shall surrender himself before the Jail Superintendent.
(vi) The petitioner shall furnish a copy of the SLP filed in the Supreme Court to the Superintendent Jail at the time of surrendering. W.P.(CRL) 1178/2010 Page 3 of 4
(vii) The period of parole shall be counted from the day after the date when the petitioner is released from jail.
7. The petition is disposed off.
DASTI.
(HIMA KOHLI)
NOVEMBER 12, 2010 JUDGE
pm
W.P.(CRL) 1178/2010 Page 4 of 4