Bombay HC agrees to murder convict's plea to extend furlough by a day
Mumbai: The Bombay high court recently allowed an application from a murder convict and directed the Yerwada Central Prison to grant him a day’s extension of furlough and also return Rs 10,000. The convict had given this amount as security deposit with prison authorities, who had confiscated it because the inmate had failed to surrender before them on time.
The court also reprimanded deputy inspector general prison, western region, for refusing to extend convict’s furlough on the grounds that as per a circular issued by the Home Department furlough could not be extended. Relying on this circular, the prison authorities had also cancelled the already granted 14-days furlough.
The court said that jail authorities should have taken into consideration the said circular in the very beginning. It also said that if authorities have the power to extend furlough for 14-days, they can also extend it for one more day.
A bench headed by Justice Sadhna Jadhav was hearing a petition filed by Javed Bagwan, a murder convict. In 2012, he was granted an extension of another 14-days during an ongoing 14-day’ furlough, because his father had taken ill. However on November 14, 2012 when he reached the Yerwada Central Prison in Pune at around 3 pm to surrender before the authorities, they informed him that prison gate was closed early due to Muharram and he was asked to surrender the next day.
Bagwan surrendered the next day but technically he was a day late, so he applied for one day’s extension in his furlough leave. In his application, he claimed he had left his house early in the morning to surrender before the jail authorities but due to sugarcane farmers’ agitation he got late and as the jail’s gate was closed early due to Muharram, he was not allowed to surrender the same day.
Bagwan later moved to high court and Justice Jadhav accepted the argument by applicant’s lawyer Shantanu Udhan and directed jail authorities to grant one-day extension in furlough and also return Bagwan’s confiscated money.
