PADMA Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Crl. M.P. No. 1225/98 : Petition for direction to release the petitioner from custody holding that after computing the period of remission passed by the Government of Tamil Nadu in G.O. Ms. No. 279/92, 296/93 and 205/94, the petitioner need not serve the sentence. Crl. M.P. No. 1468/98 :- Petition to grant remission to the petitioner in view of the Government order issued by the Government of Tamil Nadu on various dates. Crl. O.P. 1854/98 :- Petition filed to direct the respondents to extend the benefit of G.O.Ms. Nos. 781, 279, 296 and 205 and release the petitioner's husband forthwith on the basis of the remission of sentence and award damages and costs for keeping him inside the prison from 8-9-97 onwards without calculating the remission period in accordance with the Government orders.

(2.) The case of the petitioners in brief in all the applications is as follows : The petitioner in Crl. M.P. No. 1225/98 was sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for two years for an offence under Section 5(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act by the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Erode, by the judgment dated 10-12-90 and subsequently confirmed by this Court in Criminal Appeal 829/90. The petitioner in Crl. M.P. No. 1468/98 was sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for one year under S. 161, IPC and simple imprisonment for one year for the offence under S. 5(2) read with S. 5 (1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act imposed by the learned II Additional Special Judge, Special Court, Chennai in C.C. 33/87, dated 12-2-90 and confirmed by this Court in Criminal Appeal No. 124/90, dated 28-10-97. The husband of the petitioner in Crl. O.P. No. 1854/98 was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for eighteen months with a fine of Rs. 1000/- for the offence under S. 5(1) (d) read with S. 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, by the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, and Special Judge, Salem in C.C. 8/88, dated 20-3-89 and the sentence was also confirmed by this Court in Criminal Appeal No. 290/89, dated 29-7-97. The Government Orders passed under Section 432 of the Code of Criminal Procedure are to take effect from the date of the judgment. The convicted persons under the Prevention of Corruption Act, investigated by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, Tamil Nadu, are also entitled to claim the benefit of the various Government Orders. This Court also has extended the benefit of the various Government Orders of remission in other cases also.

(3.) So far as the petitioner's husband in Crl. O.P. No. 1854/98 is concerned, this Court although dismissed the appeal, it is clearly stated that the jail authorities will give remission of sentence in accordance with the Government Orders passed by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The petitioner's advocate forwarded a petition dated 12-8-97 to the Inspector General of Prisons, Chennai, requesting him to consider the case of her husband for remission of sentence in the light of the aforesaid Government Orders. In reply to that, he passed an order on 26-9-97 rejecting his request on the ground that the Government Orders are not applicable to the persons convicted under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The petitioner's husband is entitled to remission of sentence and none of the Government Orders has said in any place that they are not applicable to the cases covered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, when the Government Orders are silent in respect of the Prevention of Corruption Act and they specifically exclude certain cases from the purview of the Government Orders, the benefit of the Goverment Orders cannot be extended only to those sentences which are specifically excluded and not for any other sentence including the sentence awarded under the Prevention of Corruption Act. In fact, the Inspector General of Prisons, Madras, has released under the various set of facts and circumstances, another person who was also sentenced under the Prevention of Corruption Act on the basis of the aforesaid Government Orders, hence, these petitions are filed, seeking remission of sentence in pursuance of the various Government Orders issued by the Government of Tamil Nadu in the respective applications.