LAIJI Vs. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This petition has been placed before the Full Bench on a interference by one of us (K.N. Shukla, J.), There have been conflicting decisions about the scope of interference by this Court and numerous cases are being filed by prisoners Under the M.P. PrisonersT Release on Probation Act.

(2.) Facts as stated in the order of reference are as follows. Petitioner is undergoing a sentence of life imprisonment under section 302 IPC. The petitioner has not disclosed the date of the Judgment, the circumstances under which he was prosecuted or the findings on the basis of which be was convicted. The petitioner has merely stated that he had applied for release on probation under section 2 of the M.P. Prisoners Release on Probation Act, 1954 (the Probation Act hereafter) before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court directed the State Government to decide petitioners application within seven months and if the application was not decided within this period the petitioner would be entitled to be released on bail. Petitioners application was not decided within the time allowed by the Supreme Court and he was released on bail. The Probation Board, however, considered the application of the petitioner as per Rules framed under the Probation Act and recommended to the State Government that the application was liable to be rejected. Accepting the recommendation of the Probation Board, the State Government rejected the application of the petitioner for being released on probation by order dated 6.3.1987 (Annexure R-I).

(3.) The petitioner prayed that the Probation Board be directed to reconsider the case of the petitioner because the grounds stated by the Board and accepted by the State Government were not sufficient for rejecting his application.