SC awards Rs 11 lakh to convict for wrongful detention after parole order
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Rajasthan government to pay Rs 11 lakh compensation to a convict who remained in prison for 24 days despite a High Court order granting him parole, Bar and Bench reported.
A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Karol and AG Masih held that the state cannot continue to deprive a person of liberty merely because officials are considering whether to challenge a judicial order granting parole.
“The liberty of an individual is not a trivial matter,” the court observed, as quoted by the legal news portal.
The bench further noted that a judicial order directing release must be complied with unless stayed by a higher court, adding that an individual’s rights do not diminish simply because they are serving a sentence.
The Court held that the continued incarceration of the convict amounted to illegal detention and entitled him to compensation, and accordingly awarded Rs 11 lakh for violation of his personal liberty.
The case pertains to a man named Daudayal, who was convicted by a trial court in 1988 and sentenced to four years of rigorous imprisonment in connection with a 1967 case in Rajasthan, Bar and Bench reported. He had been accused of unlawful assembly, house trespass, and culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
In 2021, the Rajasthan High Court upheld his conviction and sentence, following which he was taken into custody to serve the sentence.
Later, Daudayal applied for permanent parole in December 2023 while serving his sentence, according to Live Law. The prison authorities rejected the request in January 2024.
He then approached the High Court, which on November 5, 2024, directed his release on parole upon furnishing a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh and two sureties of Rs 50,000 each.
However, despite fulfilling the conditions, he was not released. He subsequently moved a division bench of the High Court, which ordered his immediate release on December 6, 2024, the legal portal reported.
Following this, Daudayal approached the Supreme Court seeking compensation for the 24-day delay in his release, arguing that there was no legal justification for his continued detention after verification of sureties. He claimed the delay violated his right to personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution and warranted compensation.
The state government, however, argued that the High Court order was contrary to the 1958 Rajasthan Prisoners Release on Parole Rules, and that the delay occurred as authorities were considering whether to challenge the order.