Reformative Provisions Like Parole, Furlough Not To Be Affected In Name Of Intra-Jail Discipline: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that authorities cannot curtail reformative provisions like parole and furlough in the name of intra-jail discipline.

The Court was considering a Writ Petition assailing an order whereby furlough request of the Petitioner was rejected by the competent authority on the ground that the petitioner, on an earlier occasion, jumped furlough and surrendered three days after the due date.

The Bench of Justice Girish Kathpalia observed, ".......it appears that earlier, the respondent had issued a notification holding that punishment of warning shall not stand in the way of granting furlough, but that notification was withdrawn. Suffice it to record that prima facie, the said withdrawal was a regressive step, not consonant with the concept of reformation of the convict."

The Petitioner was represented by Advocate Priyal Bhardwaj, while the Respondent was represented by Assistant State Counsel Yasir Rauf Ansari.

Facts of the Case

The impugned order stated that he was warned after he jumped the furlough and consequently, the fresh furlough request can be filed only after one year. But the date of the alleged punishment of warning was not disclosed in the impugned order.

Counsel for Petitioner submitted that on the earlier occasion, Petitioner got late by three days in surrendering because he had suffered an eye injury and even the stitches were removed in the jail itself, so the jail authorities are well aware about reason behind delay in surrender.

The Assistant State Counsel admitted that the impugned order does not contain complete facts, so it cannot be sustained.

Reasoning By Court

The Court noted that the authorities must keep in mind the basic purpose of the concepts of parole and furlough and therefore, the requests for parole and furlough have to be examined in a paradigm different from other issues.

"The basic purpose of these provisions is to prevent prisonization and thereby the same are steps towards reformation of the convict. Merely because the convict released on parole and/or furlough fails to surrender in time, unless there are other inculpatory circumstances, delay of a day or two in surrender must be examined with a slight tilt in favour of the convict in order to ensure proper utilization of these tools of reformation", the Court observed.

On the submission that decisions like the one in the present case are necessary in order to inculcate discipline in jail amongst convicts, the Court ruled, "There is no dispute that discipline must be adhered to in jails also. The issue is as to whether in the name of intra-jail discipline, the authorities can adversely impact the utility of the provisions created for reformation of the convict."

It thus asked the authorities to re-examine the same, and the impugned order was set aside.

The Petition was accordingly disposed of.

Cause Title: Chetan vs. State GNCT of Delhi (2025:DHC:7684)

Click here to read/ download Order