Remission of life sentence also ends default jail term for unpaid fine, Delhi High Court rules

The petitioner was convicted under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of ₹50,000, with two years’ simple imprisonment in default of payment.

His conviction and sentence were upheld by the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court dismissed his special leave petition.

The Sentence Review Board (SRB), by order dated 5 February 2026, remitted the unexpired term of sentence of the petitioner and other life convicts.

The petitioner remained in custody because he had not paid the fine, and the respondents relied on Rule 1176 of the Delhi Prison Rules, 2018 to justify his continued detention.

Whether Rule 1176 of the Delhi Prison Rules, 2018, permits continued detention to serve a fine-default sentence after the SRB has remitted the convict’s unexpired substantive sentence.

Whether the petitioner was entitled to release pursuant to the SRB’s remission order despite non-payment of the fine.

Article 226 and 227 of the Constitution and Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, were invoked as the basis for the petition seeking release.

Section 473 of the BNSS was the provision under which the SRB’s remission order was made.

Rule 1176 of the Delhi Prison Rules, 2018, provides that a prisoner undergoing only a fine-default sentence is not eligible for ordinary remission; it does not authorize continued detention for a fine-default sentence after the substantive sentence has been remitted.

No judicial precedents were relied upon.

The Court read Rule 1176 as applying only to prisoners in custody solely because of default in payment of a fine.

The petitioner had been serving a life sentence, with a fine and a default sentence, and the SRB had expressly remitted the unexpired term of his sentence.

The Court held that the Rule could not be used to defeat that remission or to continue his detention for the default sentence; the respondents had therefore misapplied Rule 1176.

It directed his immediate release, disposed of the petition and pending application, and ordered that a copy of the decision be sent to the concerned Jail Superintendent for compliance.