Heard the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner. Mr.D.Gandhiraj, learned Government Advocate appearing for the respondents.
2.The petitioner's husband, namely, Govindan, was convicted for offence under
Section 304(ii) IPC and sentenced to undergo seven years Rigorous Imprisonment by the order of this Court in Crl.A.No.648 of 2007. The petitioner's husband is in jail after the sentence was modified by this court. The petitioner's son's marriage was originally fixed on 27.04.2009 and therefore, the petitioner applied for emergency leave to release the petitioner's husband and there was no response from the second respondent and therefore, the wedding date was changed and the same is fixed on 14.06.2009. After the change of wedding date the petitioner sent a representation to the first and second respondents on 19.05.2009, requesting them to grant emergency leave to the petitioner's husband to attend the marriage on 14.06.2009. As there is no response from the respondents, the petitioner has come forward with this Writ Petition.
3.Mr.D.Gandhiraj, learned Government Advocate brought to the notice of this Court that for obtaining leave, the prisoner must have undergone three years of imprisonment from the date of initial imprisonment and in this case, the petitioner surrendered only in September 2008 and he has not completed three years and hence his request shall not be considered.
4.It is seen from the Tamil Nadu Suspension of Sentence Rules 1982, (herein after referred to as "the Rules") as per Rule 6, emergency leave can be granted for attending the wedding of son, daughter, full brother or full sister of the prisoner and in Rule 7, no emergency leave shall be granted unless the prisoner has been sentenced by a Court to imprisonment for a term or imprisonment for life for offence against any law other than relating to a matter to which the executive power of the Union Government extends and his conduct in the prison has been satisfactory.
(ii)Rule 8 and 9 of the Rules deals with the mode of making request and the document to be accompanied along with the request for grant of emergency leave.
(iii)As per Rule 10 of the Rules, the second respondent is the authority to grant emergency leave and while granting emergency leave, the Superintendent of Prison shall have discretion to verify the genuineness of the certificates produced along with the petition for emergency leave with the Probation Officer or Police concerned before releasing a prisoner on emergency leave. In case of emergency like attending a funeral, the Superintendent of Prison shall contact the Probation Officer or Police concerned by wire or phone and get the matter confirmed.
(iv)As per Rule 12 of the Rules, it is open to the Superintendent of Prison to grant or reject emergency leave for special reasons to be recorded in writing which shall be kept in confidential.
5.Therefore, having regard to the various rules containing in the Tamil Nadu Suspension of Sentence Rules 1982, for attending the wedding of the son of the prisoner is entitled for emergency leave and the minimum requirement of undergoing three years imprisonment, as per Rule 22, is applicable only to ordinary leave and it cannot be made applicable to the emergency leave. Therefore, as per Rule 6 of the Rules, the petitioner's husband is entitled to apply for emergency leave.
6.As stated supra, the grant of emergency leave depends upon the conduct of the prisoner in the prison and the Superintendent of Prison before releasing a person on emergency leave can verify the genuineness of the certificates produced along with the petition of the emergency leave with the Police concerned. In this case, the representation was made on 19.05.2009 seeking emergency leave stating the reason that the marriage of the petitioner's son is to take place on 14.06.2009 and no order has been passed by the second respondent. The second respondent bound to act as per Rule 11 and 12 of the Rules and he cannot keep the matter pending without passing any orders. The second respondent ought to have consulted the Police concerned and ought to have passed any order either granting or rejecting the emergency leave, when it was made clear that the wedding is to take place on 14.06.2009.
7.In the circumstances, I am constrained to pass an order directing the second respondent to contact the Police concerned by phone and having regard to the conduct of the prisoner in the jail and if it is satisfactory to the authorities and there is no objection for granting emergency leave, the Superintendent of Prison can grant emergency leave to the petitioner's husband, namely, Govindan, for the period as stated in Rule 13 of the Rules. Therefore, the second respondent, namely, the Superintendent of Prison, is directed to consider the representation of the petitioner, dated 19.05.2009 immediately, on or before 13.06.2009 and pass order as stated above. The petitioner is also directed to submit a representation along with a copy of this Order to the Superintendent of Prison immediately and the Superintendent of Prison shall act as per the directions given by this Court. The Writ Petition is ordered accordingly. No costs.
RR To
1.The Home Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu, Secretariat, St. George Fort, Chennai-9.
2.The Superintendent, Central Prison, Trichy.