NEW DELHI: Invoking the timeless wisdom of Kautilya’s Arthashastra, that justice must be wielded not merely as a sword of deterrence but as a tool of reformation, the Delhi High Court has directed the city Government to reconsider the premature release plea of a life convict who had jumped parole once, over a decade ago.
Justice Girish Kathpalia, in a sharply worded and philosophically grounded order on June 11, reminded the State that the reformatory element of sentencing is as old as the concept of governance itself. Drawing strength from the Fifth Pillar Edict of Topra, the judge cited Emperor Ashoka’s declaration that he had remitted sentences 25 times in 26 years, exemplifying mercy grounded in moral and administrative foresight.
“There existed a conscious and consistent thought amongst ancient thinkers, aimed at reformation of criminals in order to achieve larger goal of peace in society by minimization of crime and criminogenic tendencies. Later, thinkers across globe nurtured the idea that reformatory policies are more productive than deterrent and retributory approach to crime and criminal,” the Court observed. The ruling came in a writ petition filed by a murder convict who has been behind bars for more than 18 years without remission and over 21 years including remission, seeking relief under the 2004 Delhi Government policy for premature release. His plea had been consistently denied on grounds including the brutality of the original crime, his 2010 parole jump, and involvement in two more cases in 2015. But the High Court was not swayed by the State’s unbending stand. Instead, it posed a deeper question—can a single lapse, now over 15 years old, permanently foreclose a man’s liberty, especially when that lapse has not been repeated?
The Court ordered the government to reconsider the convict’s application for premature release within four weeks.