Delhi HC grants parole to convict for LLM exam

New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Monday granted parole to Santosh Kumar Singh, who is serving life term for the rape and murder of a law student, Priyadarshini Mattoo, to write his LLM examination.

Justice Mukta Gupta granted him parole for four days as his exams are scheduled to begin from Tuesday. He is pursuing LLM in a second branch. He completed the first branch of LLM in 2014.

The court noted that he has been availing parole and furlough in the past as well. His claim, that he has to appear in the exam, has been verified by the authorities. The judge directed him to furnish a personal bond of Rs 2,000 and a surety of the like amount and disposed of his petition.

During the hearing, Delhi government standing counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra opposed the parole plea saying this modus operandi of taking admission in a course and then asking for parole to come out of the jail was defeating the purpose of the system. He also objected to the way jail officers approve relief to some of the prisoners as if “they are distributing sweets.” The court, however, said the education system is encouraged in prison so that there is positivity in jail.

Singh was earlier on parole between April 17 and May 1 for his personal contact programme (PCP), which is a part of his course, and surrendered thereafter. His lawyer also filed an affidavit detailing his education, as directed by the court earlier.

Priyadarshini Mattoo (25) was raped and murdered in January 1996. Singh, a law student in Delhi University, was acquitted by the trial court in the case on December 3, 1999. However, on October 27, 2006, the Delhi high court had reversed the decision, holding him guilty of rape and murder and awarded him death penalty.