Sudarsan Bera v. The State Of West Bengal And ORS

24.09.2025 Item No.50 Ct. No.550 SB(gc) WPA 23036 of 2025 Sudarsan Bera VS.

The State of West Bengal & Ors.

Mr. Sandipan Ganguly, Sr. Adv.

Mr. Dipanjan Dutt Mr. Surojit Saha Mr. Soumadip Ghosh ...For the Petitioner Mr. Tapan Mukherjee Ms. Sangeeta Roy ...For the State-Respondents

1. Affidavit-of-service filed in court today is taken on record.

2. The State Legal Services Authority has filed this writ petition on behalf of the convicted, namely, Sudarsan Bera who was convicted the order of sentence dated 28.5.1997 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Midnapore in S.T. No. 11/03/1996, thereby convicting the petitioner under Sections 302/34 and Section 201/34 of the I.P.C. sentencing him to suffer Rigorous Imprisonment for Life for premature release.

3. It is trite to say that National Legal Services Authority has issued Standard Operating Procedure for premature release of the life convicts and the Hon'ble Supreme Court has also directed all the States in India to formulate the policy for premature release, remission of sentences in respect of the life convicts, and the same has been reported in 2025 SCC OnLine SC 349, In Re: Policy Strategy for Grant of Bail.

4. It is alleged that the said guidelines and directions were not followed by the respondent authorities.

5. Needless to mention that the Hon'ble Supreme Court mandated that the State must consider the prayer for premature release

and also consider eligibility of the life convicts without waiting for the convicts' applications. As the allegation that the said guidelines are not followed in accordance with the direction of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, I direct the respondent authorities to consider the prayer for premature release of the life convict, namely, Sudarsan Bera in accordance with the relevant guidelines of National Legal Services Authority and also in accordance with section 61(2) of the West Bengal Correctional Services Act, 1992, within two months from date and to inform the said decision to the life convict immediately thereafter.

6. This writ petition be treated as prayer for pre-mature release on behalf of the life convict.

7. Let this order be intimated to the life convict through the State Legal Services Authority, West Bengal.

8. With the aforesaid direction, WPA 23036 of 2025 is disposed of.

9. Urgent photostat certified copy of this order, if applied for, be given to the parties, on priority basis, upon compliance of all necessary formalities.

10. All parties shall act on the server copy of this order. (APURBA SINHA RAY, J.)