SC’s verdict on including granted parole during COVID-19 in actual punishment

On March 24, 2023, the bench comprising Justices C.T. Ravikumar and M.R. Shah stated that the period of emergency/interim parole granted to the prisoners during the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be included in the period of actual punishment. The Supreme Court (SC) ordered, “When the petitioner has been convicted for the offences under Sections 302/34 of IPC and sentenced to undergo life imprisonment, he has to undergo the said sentence actually subject to any rule/ policy in respect of remission and the period during which he is released on emergency/interim parole has to be excluded for the purpose of actual imprisonment.” The SC bench also added that the petitioner would not be entitled to claim any relief and dismissed the petition. 

In this case, a writ petition was filed by a prisoner seeking direction or order of quashing and setting aside the decision of the High-Powered Committee. The decision was that “the period of release on interim parole shall not be counted towards the total period of the sentence of the convicted prisoner.” While giving the judgment, the SC bench addressed the order and judgment passed in the recent case, Rohan Dhungat vs State of Goa and Ors, which stated that the parole period cannot be included in the period of actual sentence/ punishment/ imprisonment. Moreover, the petitioner’s lawyer argued that “This was not regular parole. It was involuntary, I did not ask for it. There was huge overcrowding in the prisons. It would have added to the number of deaths in prisons during COVID-19.” The bench further opined that “But you were out of jail, right? Then where’s the question…Parole period cannot be counted, we have already said.” With this, the Supreme Court delivered the final verdict that the parole period will not be added to the actual punishment of the prisoners.

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