Pavithra v. The State Represented By Its The Secretary To The Government Of Tamil Nadu
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT DATED : 06.12.2023 CORAM :
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE M.SUNDAR and THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE R.SAKTHIVEL Pavithra ... Petitioner vs.
1. The State represented by its The Secretary to the Government of Tamil Nadu, Department of Home, Fort St. George, Chennai - 600 009.
2. The Deputy Inspector General of Prison, Trichy Range, Trichy - 620 020.
3. The Superintendent, Central Prison, Trichy-620 020.
... Respondents Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for issuance of a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus, to call for the records pertaining to the impugned order bearing No.106/Mu.U/2023, dated 09.11.2023, passed by the 2nd respondent and quash the same and consequently direct the respondents to grant ordinary leave for 40 days without escort to the detenu Balamurugan S/o. Pakkirisamy, aged about 47 years, Convict No.23087, now confined at Central Prison, Trichy. Page No.1 of 14
For Petitioner : Dr.S.Manoharan For Respondents : Mr.A.Thiruvadi Kumar Additional Public Prosecutor
O R D E R
[Order of the Court was made by M.SUNDAR, J.] Captioned 'Writ Petition' [hereinafter 'WP' for the sake of brevity] has been filed in this Court on 01.12.2023. 2.
Factual matrix in a nutshell is that WP petitioner's spouse one Balamurugan [Convict No.23087], son of Thiru.Pakkirisamy, is a life convict [hereinafter 'said prison inmate' for the sake of convenience and use of better glossary], now lodged in Central Prison, Trichy; that WP petitioner sent a representation dated 26.10.2023 to the respondents seeking 40 days ordinary leave without escort for the said prison inmate; that this representation was rejected in and by an order dated 09.11.2023 bearing reference No. 106/Kc/2023 made by the 2nd respondent [hereinafter 'impugned order' for the sake of convenience]; that assailing the impugned order and seeking grant of ordinary leave, captioned WP has been filed. 3.
Dr.S.Manoharan, learned counsel for WP petitioner is before us on a 'Video Conferencing' [hereinafter 'VC' for the sake of brevity] platform. To be noted, this is a hybrid hearing.
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4.
Learned counsel for WP petitioner reiterated the aforesaid facts and submitted that the impugned order has been made solely on the ground that said prison inmate has not completed three years of sentence, he having been convicted for over 14 years.
5.
Learned counsel also submitted that the matter is directly / squarely covered by Bhuvaneswari's case reported in 2023:MHC:3983 6.
Issue notice.
7.
Mr.A.Thiruvadi Kumar, learned Additional Public Prosecutor accepts notice for all three respondents.
8.
Learned Prosecutor citing Rule 22(1)(c) of 'the Tamil Nadu Suspension of Sentence Rules, 1982' [hereinafter 'said Rules' for the sake of convenience and clarity] submits that this rule is the only impediment. This means that the grounds on which ordinary leave has been sought, are not subjected to disputation or contestation. To be noted, a careful perusal of 26.10.2023 representation sent by the petitioner brings to light that ordinary leave has been sought on the ground that the prison inmate has an eye Page No.3 of 14
ailment and it is necessary to give good treatment and attention by putting him under the management of an Ophthalmologist. Besides this, WP petitioner is struggling with three children and arrangements have to be made for their livelihood i.e., for the livelihood of prison inmate's family. 9.
Be that is it may, as regards Rule 22(1)(c) of said Rules, there is no disputation or contestation before us that the captioned matter is directly / squarely covered by Bhuvaneswari's case and a scanned reproduction of the order made in Bhuvaneswari's case is as follows: Page No.4 of 14
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10.
In the light of the narrative thus far, as there is no disputation about the grounds on which leave has been sought, as the said prison inmate does not come to adverse notice of the prison authorities and as there is no disputation that the captioned matter is directly covered by Bhuvaneswari's case principle, we make the following order:
(a) Impugned order i.e., order bearing reference No.106/Mu.U/2023, dated 09.11.2023, passed by the 2nd respondent, is set aside by applying Bhuvaneswari's case principle;
(b) The said prison inmate namely, Thiru.Balamurugan, son of Thiru.Pakkirisamy, aged about 47 years, Convict No.23087, now confined at Central Prison, Trichy, is granted 21 days ordinary leave without escort;
(c) The said prison inmate shall sign every day in the Forenoon before the Jurisdictional Magistrate [we are informed that the prison inmate will be staying at No.65, Kollukaadu Bus Stop, Rajamadam Post, Tanjore], and that the Page No.11 of 14
Jurisdictional Magistrate is Judicial Magistrate, Pattukottai.
(d) 21 days ordinary leave will be from 08.12.2023[Friday] at 10.30 a.m to 28.12.2023. (e) The said prison inmate shall surrender in the office of the 3rd respondent on 29.12.2023[Friday] by dusk i.e., 05.30 p.m.
(f) The aforementioned condition of signing before the Judicial Magistrate every day in the Forenoon will not apply to 08.12.2023[Friday] and 29.12.2023[Friday] as it would be the date of release and date of surrender.
(g) The said prison inmate shall not partake in any activities which are not concerned with the grounds on which leave is granted.
(h) As a corollary to preceding point, it is made clear that said prison inmate shall avail 21 days ordinary leave without escort only for the purpose for which it is granted.
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11.
Captioned WP is disposed of in the aforesaid manner with the aforesaid directive and observations. There shall be no order as to costs. (M.S., J.) (R.S.V., J.) 06.12.2023 Index : Yes / No : Yes / No bala P.S: Upload forthwith. All concerned to act on this order being uploaded in official website of this Court without insisting on certified copies. To be noted, this order when uploaded in official website of this Court will be watermarked and will also have a QR code.
To
1. The Secretary to the Government of Tamil Nadu, State of Tamil Nadu, Department of Home, Fort St. George, Chennai - 600 009.
2. The Deputy Inspector General of Prison, Trichy Range, Trichy - 620 020.
3. The Superintendent, Central Prison, Trichy-620 020.
4. The Judicial Magistrate, Pattukottai.
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M.SUNDAR, J.
and R.SAKTHIVEL, J.
bala ORDER MADE IN DATED : 06.12.2023 Page No.14 of 14