MAHABOOB SUBHANI Vs. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner herein is a life convict and he approached this Court and filed the present writ petition with the following prayer:

(2.) The brief facts of the case are that the petitioner was the 1st accused in SC No.5 of 2001 on the file of IV Additional Sessions Judge at Guntur and he was tried for the offences punishable under Sections 302, 449 and 506 IPC. The trial Court, though found the 2nd accused not guilty of any of the offences, found A1, the petitioner herein, guilty of the alleged offences and accordingly sentenced him to death for the offence punishable under Section 302 IPC. As the death sentence is required to be confirmed by the High Court, the matter was referred to the High Court. Meanwhile, the petitioner filed Crl. A No.275 of 2001 questioning the judgment passed by the trial Court. This Court being not convinced with the appreciation of the evidence by the trial Court, dismissed the referred trial and allowed the appeal of the accused/appellant and remanded the matter back to die trial Court. This Court also ordered withdrawal and transfer of the case from IV Additional Sessions Judge, Guntur to the file of Metropolitan Sessions Judge, Vijayawada for cross-examination of the witnesses again by the petitioner. On remand, the learned Metropolitan Sessions Judge, Vijayawada, permitted the petitioner to cross- examine the witnesses, and ultimately, vide his judgment dated 26.11.2001, delivered in SC No.5 of 2001, found him guilty of the offences punishable under Sections 302, 449 and 506 IPC; (1) under Section 302 IPC, he was sentenced to under go life imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs.2,000/ - in default, simple imprisonment for two months, (2) under Section 449 IPC, he was sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for 5 years and to pay a fine of Rs.500/-, in default, to suffer simple imprisonment for 15 days and (3) under Section 506 IPC, he was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year and to pay a fine of Rs.500/-, in default, simple imprisonment for 15 days, and all the sentences were directed to run concurrently. Assailing this judgment dated 26.11.2001, the petitioner preferred Crl. A No.31 of 2002 and the State also preferred Crl. A No.754 of 2003, and this Court by its judgment dated 31.3.2004, confirmed the sentence of imprisonment imposed by the learned Metropolitan Sessions Judge, Vijayawada. As the petitioner was not granted bail, he has been in jail at Central Prison, Rajahmundry, for more than two years. While so, the Government issued orders in G.O. Ms. No.338, dated 24.7.2009, granting special remission to the life prisoners on the occasion of the Independence Day 2009 and the guidelines set in at Para 3 in the said G.O. read as follows:

(3.) The main contention put-forth by the learned Counsel for the petitioner is that as on 2.10.2009, the petitioner had undergone the actual sentence of 7 years 10 months and 4 days and according to her, the petitioner was in jail as under trial prisoner for a period of 752 days i.e. 2 years 22 days. The special remission granted by the Government as per G.O. dated 24.7.2009 is 1 year 8 months and ordinary remission he earned for his good conduct in the jail is I year 11 months 28 days and thus, the total sentence, he has undergone is 13 years 6 months 24 days and in spite of the same, the authorities have neither extended the benefits of the G.O. to the petitioner, nor released him.