BANTI Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Short reply of Shamsher Singh Dahiya, Superintendent of Jail, Central Jail, Hisar on behalf of respondents No. 1 and 2 has been filed in the Court and the same is taken on record.

(2.) The petitioner is undergoing life imprisonment after his conviction in case FIR No. 492 dtd. 19/8/2014 under Ss. 302/34 of Indian Penal Code and Ss. 25, 54 and 59 of Arms Act, registered at Police Station Narnaund, District Hisar. His criminal appeal is pending.

(3.) Vide order dtd. 6/3/2019 of Divisional Commissioner, Hisar (Annexure P-2) sanctioned him parole for a period of three weeks to enable him to attend the marriage of his sister which is scheduled for 30/3/2019 and 31/3/2019. As per the said order, the petitioner was to be released on parole on furnishing sureties in the sum of Rs.2,00,000.00 each for faithful observance of the conditions specified in the release warrant to the satisfaction of District Magistrate, Hisar. However, the District Magistrate did not accept the sureties/bonds. He sought guidance from the Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Haryana, as to whether the petitioner could be released on parole in view of the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct. The Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Haryana, Home Department, in turn referred the matter to the Chief Electoral Officer, Haryana for consultation. This was done purportedly in view of Question No. 49 of the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) as contained in the Model Code of Conduct for guidance of political parties and candidates issued by the Election Commission of India.