CHENNAI : The Madras High Court has ordered release of two life convicts of Puducherry after finding the grounds cited for rejection of their applications for premature release, as per the Puducherry Prison Rules, 2021, not sustainable.
The orders were passed by a division bench of Justices MS Ramesh and Sunder Mohan recently on the petitions praying for release of Ravi alias Pokkai Ravi and Premkumar, both sentenced to life imprisonment in a murder case by a sessions court of Puducherry in 2003.
Advocate V Elangovan, appearing for the petitioners, submitted that the convicts had applied for premature release citing they had completed 14-year jail term and thus are eligible for premature release as per the Puducherry Prison Rules. However, the chief superintendent of jails rejected their applications in January.
In the case of Ravi, the superintendent stated that he jumped parole in 2012. Later, he was sentenced to one year in jail for this offence and so was not eligible for premature release. In the case of Premkumar, the reasons for rejection included pendency of 11 cases.
“Thus, when the principal ground for rejection was only on the basis of the 11 pending cases, which are now found to be a factual mistake and by taking into account of the favourable report of the probation officer, we are of the affirmed view that the life convict prisoner would be eligible for premature release,” the bench said and ordered his release.