SEWA SINGH Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) SEWA Singh through present petition filed by him under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure read with Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India seeks direction to be issued to the respondents to set him at liberty as his further detention would be illegal, arbitrary and violative of Articles 14 and 19 of the Constitution of India. The undisputed facts, on which the relief aforesaid rests, need to be briefly mentioned.

(2.) PETITIONER was arrested on 30.8.1981 and was tried under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and accordingly sentenced on 24.3.1982 for life. By 20.3.1994 he had undergone an actual sentence for a period of 12 years, 6 months and 20 days. The total period of sentence with remissions comes to 18 years, 3 months and 4 days. It is positive case of the petitioner that as per instructions dated 19.11.1991, his case is covered under para 2(b) vide which the petitioner could not be kept in jail for more than ten years.

(3.) MR . Jindal, learned counsel for the petitioner contends that once it was found that the case of petitioner is not covered under para 2(a) of the instructions aforesaid, any further confinement of the petitioner in judicial lock-up would be wholly illegal as also that the impugned order, Annexure R-1, is wholly arbitrary and without application of mind as nothing at all has been mentioned as to why the petitioner should be retained for a period of 14 years.