CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has held that the central government’s consent is not required for considering the application of a convict for premature release if he had served the entire term of sentence in the case of conviction and sentence under a central Act.
The ruling was given by a division bench of justices Anita Sumanth and Sunder Mohan while allowing a petition filed by Nanjil Mugilan of Salem praying for quashing a June 5, 2025 order of the Tamil Nadu home secretary rejecting his application for premature release of A Dhanapal, his father. Dhanapal was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and a one-year sentence under the Explosive Substances Act in 2004.
Having completed more than 21 years in prison, he submitted an application to the home secretary seeking premature release but it was rejected. The home secretary cited Paragraph 5 (III) (3) of GO 64 of the home department dated February 1, 2018, referring to Section 435 of the CrPC for rejecting the application.
Advocate M Radhakrishnan, assisted by M Mohamed Saifulla, submitted that since the convict has already served the one-year term of sentence awarded under the central Act, there is no need for obtaining the centre’s consent.
However, the state government submitted that it decided to exclude the case of those who were convicted under central enactments from the benefit of the GOs providing for remission of sentence.
The bench, in its June 2, 2026 order, said its conclusion “is in the negative” to the question whether reference to Section 435 in the GO remains a hurdle even if the sentence under the central Act has been served.
Citing certain judgments, the bench said the consent of the centre is required only if the tenure of sentence for the offence under the central Act is still current, and the condition in GO 64 must be similarly understood. “To do so otherwise would be contrary to the explicit intention of the provision and the understanding thereof by the state as evident from the subsequent GOs,” it said.
The bench directed the authorities concerned to reconsider the application and pass orders on it within four weeks.