Santaji Waman Gopale v. State Of Maharashtra

ssm 51-wp6567.2025.doc

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION NO. 6567 OF 2025 Santaji Waman Gopale .....Petitioner Vs.

The State Of Maharashtra .....Respondent ____________________________________ Mr. Shekhar Jagtap for the Petitioner.

Smt. Mankuwar M. Deshmukh Acting PP a/w Mr. J.P. Yagnik APP, for the Respondent-State.

____________________________________ CORAM : A. S. GADKARI AND SHYAM C. CHANDAK, JJ.

DATE : 12th JANUARY, 2026.

P.C.:- 1) By this Petition, the Petitioner is seeking relief of inclusion of his parole leave granted to him in Covid-19 pandemic as emergency parole, into actual sentence period of Petitioner.

1.1) The said issue has been considered and decided by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Anil Kumar Vs. State of Haryana & Ors. reported in (2023) 18 SCC 601. In para Nos.4 and 10 of the said decision it is held as under:- "4. The short question which is posed for the consideration of this Court is whether a convict/prisoner who has been released on temporary parole/emergency parole, pursuant to 1/2

ssm 51-wp6567.2025.doc the decision of the High-Powered Committee constituted as per the orders passed by this Court in Contagion of COVID19 Virus in Prisons, In re (2021) 12 SCC 819 : (2023) 2 SCC (Cri) 634, such parole period shall be counted towards the total period of sentence of the convict - prisoner?

10. In view of the above and when the petitioner has been convicted for the offences under Sections 302/34 IPC and sentenced to undergo life imprisonment, he has to undergo the said sentence actually subject to any rule/policy in respect of remission and the period during which he is released on emergency/interim parole has to be excluded for the purpose of actual imprisonment. Under the circumstances, the petitioner is not entitled to claim any relief prayed for in the instant writ petition. Under the circumstances, the present petition lacks merit and the same deserves to be dismissed and is accordingly dismissed." 2) In view of clear enunciation by the Hon'ble Supreme Court on the said issue we find that, there are no merits in the Petition and is accordingly disposed off.

(SHYAM C. CHANDAK, J.) (A.S. GADKARI, J.) by SANJIV SHARNAPPA MASHALKAR Date: 2026.01.17 14:59:07 +0530 SANJIV SHARNAPPA MASHALKAR 2/2