SURJIT SINGH Vs. THE STATE OF PUNJAB ETC.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS judgment will dispose of two batches of Criminal Writ petitions. The first consists of Criminal Writs 13, 14, 15, 16 and 18 of 1971. The second comprises Criminal Writs 11, 12, 19 and 20 of 1971.

(2.) THE Petitioners in all these nine cases were convicted by -Courts in the other States of the Indian Union, inter alia, of the offence of murder and were sentenced to imprisonment for life. They were transferred under the Transfer of Prisoners' Act, 1950 (hereinafter called the 'Transfer Act') to jails in Punjab.

(3.) THE four Petitioners in the second batch had, at the date of the institution of the writ petitions, undergone imprisonment, including remissions, for a period of 14 years or more. Their contention is that under para 516 -B of the Punjab Jail Manual, their cases should have been submitted through the Inspector -General of Prisons, Punjab, for obtaining orders of their release by the Government of Punjab State. According to them, the orders under Para 516 -B are to be passed by the Punjab Government and not by the Government of the State of conviction.