Madras High Court sues senior police officer

Chennai: The Madras High Court has directed the Director General of Prisons to issue uniform directions to all subordinate prison authorities to ensure that leave applications filed by or on behalf of prisoners are diligently processed in accordance with rules and decisions are taken within a period of 28 days as provided under Rule 24(5) of the Tamil Nadu Suspension of Sentence Rules, 1982.

In a recent order, a bench comprising Justices SM Subramaniam and N Senthil Kumar said that failure to comply with the Tamil Nadu Suspension of Sentence Rules, 1982 in respect of observance of the stipulated time limit amounts to default, dereliction of duty or negligence and appropriate disciplinary action should be initiated against the officers, all of whom are responsible for such misconduct.

The court said that the writ petitions filed before the expiry of the statutory period of 28 days would not be eligible for grant of normal leave under the Tamil Nadu Suspension of Sentence Rules, 1982. Applications for emergency leave would be considered by the competent authority promptly and without delay. A rejection order of a leave application would constitute a ground for initiating a writ petition challenging the same, the court added.

The court made the above directions while deciding a petition filed by Usha, wife of Karthi, a convict lodged in Vellore Jail, requesting the authorities to grant 28 days of normal leave to her husband.

The Court stated that in the instant case, the appellant had filed an application for permission on 27 June 2024. The writ petition was filed on 15 July 2024, i.e. before the expiry of the statutory time limit as per the provisions for disposal of permission applications by the competent authority under the Tamil Nadu Suspension of Sentence Rules, 1982.

Thus, the present writ petition was premature on the date of filing. “We are, however, inclined to make an exception in the present case since during the pendency of the present writ petition, the statutory time limit has expired and remand of the matter has become unnecessary,” the court added.

Referring to the submissions of the Additional Public Prosecutor that the prisoner was entitled to 21 days of normal leave, the Court granted the convicted prisoner 21 days of normal leave from 6 September 2024, subject to certain conditions.