Facts
The petitioner, the wife of life convict Mohanarajan, sought ordinary leave for him because she was suffering from invasive breast carcinoma and required his assistance with financial arrangements and travel for treatment.
Source reference: p. 3The Deputy Inspector General of Prisons granted him 28 days’ ordinary leave, subject to a police-escort condition.
Source reference: p. 2–3The petitioner sought removal of that condition, stating that her husband had previously taken leave without escort without incident or adverse remark, and that she could not meet the escort’s food and accommodation costs.
Source reference: p. 2–3The State submitted that the prisoner had undergone more than seven years of imprisonment.
Source reference: p. 3Issues
Whether the police-escort condition attached to the prisoner’s sanctioned 28 days’ ordinary leave should be removed.
Source reference: p. 2, p. 4Whether leave without escort could be subject to reporting and other safeguards.
Source reference: p. 4Law Applied
The Court exercised its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution, as invoked in the petition, to consider the challenge to the escort condition.
Source reference: p. 2The judgment cites no specific statutory provision, precedent, or legal test governing escort conditions. It directed that the prisoner comply with the conditions prescribed in the Jail Manual during leave.
Source reference: p. 5Reasoning
The Court considered the petitioner’s need for her husband’s assistance with her medical treatment and the fact that his prior leave without escort had resulted in neither an untoward incident nor an adverse remark.
Source reference: p. 4In those circumstances, it found that leave without police escort was appropriate. It imposed reporting requirements and required compliance with the Jail Manual as safeguards.
Source reference: p. 4–5Holding
The Court disposed of the petition and directed that the prisoner be granted 28 days’ ordinary leave without escort.
During leave, he must report daily to the fourth respondent at 6:30 p.m., return to the third respondent on completion of the leave, comply with the Jail Manual, and use the leave only for the purpose for which it was granted.
Source reference: p. 4–5The petitioner must produce the necessary documents and a copy of the order before the jail authorities; no costs were awarded.
Source reference: p. 5Original Court PDF
S.TamilarasivsThe State of Tamil Nadu
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