Document Fragment View

Matching Fragments

10. It is necessary to refer the Full Bench decision of this Court in case of Bhikhabhai v. State, reported in 1987 (2) GLR 1178 (FB) and the relevant observations in Paras 12, 13 and 14 are quoted as under :-

"12. In view of the this guiding and binding principle of interpretation, let us have a look at the purposes of the present legislation and furlough system.
13. The Parole and Furlough Rules are part of the penal and prison reform with a view to humanise the prison system. These rules enable the prisoner to obtain his release and to return to the outside world for a short prescribed period. The objects of such a release of prisoner can be read from Para 101 of the report submitted by the All India Jail Manual Committee as also the objects mentioned in the Model Prison Manual. These objects are :
"There is no denying of the fact that preventive detention is not punishment and the concept of serving out a sentence would not legitimately be within the purview of preventive detention. The grant of parole is essentially an executive function and instances of release of detenus on parole were literally unknown until this Court and some of the High Courts in India in recent years made orders of release on parole on humanitarian considerations. Historically 'parole' is a concept known to military law and denotes release of a Prisoners of War on promise to return. Parole has become an intergral part of the English and American systems of criminal justice intertwined with the evolution of changing attitudes of the society towards crime and criminals. As a consequence of the introduction of parole into the penal system, all fixed term sentences of imprisonment of above 18 months are subject to release on licence, that is, parole is taken as an act of grace and not as a matter of right and the convict prisoner may be released on condition that he abides by the promise. It is a provisional release from confinement, but is deemed to be a part of the imprisonment. Release on parole is a wing of the reformative process and is expected to provide opportunity to the prisoner to transform himself into a useful citizen. Parole is thus a grant of partial liberty of lessening of restrictions to a convict prisoner, but release on parole does not change the status of the prisoner. Rules are framed providing supervision by parole authorities of the convicts released on parole and in case of failure to perform the promise, the convict released on parole is directed to surrender to custody. (See : The Oxford Companion to Law, edited by Walker 1980 Edn. 931: Black's Law Dictionary, 5th Edn. 1006, Jowitt's Dictionary of English Law, 2nd Edn, Vol. 2 page 1320 : Kenny's Outlines of Criminal Law, 17th Edn., pp. 574-76; the English Sentencing System by Sir Rupert Cross at pp. 31-34; 87 et seq; American Jurisprudence, 2nd Edn. Vol. 59 pp. 52-61; Corpus Juris Secundum, Vol. 67; Probation and Parole, Legal and Social Dimensions by Louis P. Carney). It follows from these authorities that parole is the release of a very long term prisoner from a penal or correctional institution after he has served a part of his sentence under the continued custody of the State and under conditions that permit his incarceration in the event of misbehaviour,"