LABH KAUR Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BY means of this petition, Smt. Labh Kaur has invoked the jurisdiction of this Court under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India, for securing the liberty of her son Kulwant Singh alias Kulwinder Singh (hereinafter called the convict), undergoing life imprisonment under the orders dated 27.10.80, of the Addl. Sessions Judge, Gurdaspur, As on the date of this petition, he had undergone actual sentence of 10 years 2 months and earned remissions of 6 years 4 months. In view of the instructions contained in Annexures P1 to P3 the convict moved a petition on 16-10-89 to the State Govt. The respondent-authorities, however, failed to decide the case of the convict and as such, criminal writ petition No. 4049 of 1990 was filed in this Court. In that petition a direction was issued to the State Govt to consider the convict's case for premature release within three months. No. order has been conveyed and if may be presumed that his mercy petition has not been decided.

(2.) IN the return filed by the respondent-authorities, the facts about the sentence undergone and remissions earned by the convict are admitted. According to the return the convict did not commit any offence and had been allowed parole on five occasions for a total period of 4 months and 6 days. The mercy petition for his release has since been considered and rejected. A copy thereof is Annexure RI. The relevant portion of Annexure RI is as under :

(3.) IT is not disputed that the prescribed period of sentence has been undergone by the petitioner. He had maintained satisfactory conduct during his stay in jail and did not commit any jail offence. No document has been placed on record to show that an inquiry was held to confirm if there really existed some apprehension of breach of peace. The back ground in which the murder was committed was hardly relevant to reach the conclusion that there were chances of breach of peace.