The Hindu : New Delhi News : Release of prisoners: court declines to stay notification

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Wednesday, Aug 15, 2007
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New Delhi

Release of prisoners: court declines to stay notification

J. Venkatesan

‘It is not possible to stay the notification as the stay will affect even genuine persons’
‘Apex court should not entertain the petition as a similar matter is pending in the High Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to stay at this stage a notification issued by the Andhra Pradesh Government granting remission of sentence to about 1,500 convicted prisoners lodged in various jails in the State to commemorate the “150 years of First War of Independence.”

A Bench of Justice B.N. Agrawal and Justice D.K. Jain told senior counsel P.S. Mishra, who ‘mentioned’ for urgent hearing of a petition challenging the notification and seeking an interim stay of its operation. The Bench told the counsel that it would not be possible to stay the notification as the stay would affect even genuine persons.

Counsel for the State Government said the apex court should not entertain the petition as a similar matter was already pending in the High Court. However, Mr. Mishra said that the petition in the High Court was filed in 2006. The Bench then directed the petition to be included in the ‘mention’ list on August 16.

In his Public Interest Litigation petition, advocate P. Chandrashekar Reddy challenged the notification (Go.Ms No. 196) issued by the State Government on August 7, for releasing the convicts, including hardcore and notorious criminals facing sentence of varying periods for heinous crimes.

He said the list of convicts to be released included Gouru Venkat Reddy, Congress leader sentenced to undergo 10 years rigorous imprisonment in a murder case and who is the husband of Charita Reddy, a sitting Congress MLA from Nandikotkur Assembly constituency in Kurnool district.

The petitioner said that he was concerned about the release of such large number of prisoners, out of 6,500 prisoners in the State, without knowing the sentiments of the victims and their family members, impact on society and the police machinery would have an adverse effect on the criminal justice system. He sought quashing of the impugned notification and an interim stay of its operation till the disposal of the writ petition.

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