PALA SINGH Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner is undergoing life imprisonment in Central Jail, Ambala. Jail punishment was awarded to him by the Superintendent, Central Jail, Ambala, on March 3, 1987. The order of Superintendent, Central Jail, reads as under :

(2.) OBVIOUSLY , the facts narrated in the order constitute an offence under Section 223, Indian Penal Code. The authority of the Jail Superintendent to award the punishment has been questioned by the petitioner in this petition.

(3.) A bare reading of the above two paragraphs of the Punjab Jail Manual would show that the superintendent Jail has been authorised to award jail punishment to prisoners except for the offences punishable under a number of sections of the Indian Penal Code incorporated in paragraphs 610 including an offence under section 223, Indian Penal Code. Clearly, the Superintendent of Jail is not himself authorised to award punishment for an offence under section 223, Indian Penal Code, and it is incumbent upon him to refer the case to a Magistrate of competent jurisdiction. The punishment awarded to the petitioner by the Superintendent of jail is inviolation of paragraph 610 of the Punjab Jail Manual. As such the impugned punishment is liable to be quashed. The result is that the Jail punishment dated March 3, 1987, awarded to the petitioner in the petition is hereby quashed. It will however, be open to the Jail authorities to proceed in the matter in accordance with paragraph 610 of the Punjab Jail Manual. Order accordingly.