Rajasthan High Court directs committee to reconsider Asaram Bapu plea seeking 20 days' parole under 1958 Rules

The Rajasthan High Court on Monday directed the District Parole Advisory Committee, Jodhpur to reconsider the application filed by Asaram Bapu seeking 20 days of parole under the Rajasthan Prisoners Release on Parole Rules, 1958. [Asha Ram v. State Of Rajasthan & Ors].The Court was hearing a petition filed by Asaram challenging the rejection of his parole application by the Committee, which had taken its decision based on the 2021 Parole Rules.A Bench of Justice Vijay Bishnoi and Justice Yogendra Kumar Purohit set aside the Committee's order and directed,"The decision taken by the District Parole Advisory Committee, Jodhpur in its meeting dated 20.06.2023, refusing to grant parole of 20 days’ to the petitioner, is hereby set aside and the respondents are directed to consider the application filed by the petitioner for releasing him on 20 days’ parole afresh in accordance with the provisions of the Rules of 1958, instead of the provisions of the Rules of 2021, within a period of six weeks from the date of production of certified copy of this order.".Asaram Bapu was arrested on charges of raping a minor girl in 2013. The offence was said to have taken place in Jodhpur’s Manai village in August 2013.A first information report (FIR) was initially registered against him on August 20, 2013. He was arrested on the midnight of August 31, 2013 for charges made out under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Juvenile Justice Act (JJ Act) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.He was convicted and sentenced by the trial court on April 2018 under Sections 370(4), 342, 506, Section 376(2)(D)(F) IPC read with Section 23 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000..Asaram's counsel contended that his client was convicted and sentenced in 2018, three years before the 2021 Parole Rules came into existence. Thus, his parole should be considered under the Rules framed in 1958.Despite opposing his writ petition, counsel for the State could not argue against the fact that Asaram's request for a 20 days of parole must be evaluated according to the regulations outlined in the 1958 Rules.In light of the above, the Court directed the respondents to consider Asaram's application for releasing him on 20 days’ parole afresh in accordance with the provisions of the Rules of 1958, instead of the provisions of the Rules of 2021, within a period of six weeks..Asaram was represented by Advocates Kalu Ram Bhati, SD Chavariya and Lalit Kishore Sen.The State was represented by Advocates Anil Joshi and Pallav Sharma..[Read Order]