Shakereh Khaleeli murder: Supreme Court rejects parole plea by Swami Shraddhanand (again)

The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a second parole plea filed by 84-year-old 'godman' Murali Manohar Mishra aka Swami Shraddhanand, who is serving a life sentence for murdering his wife Shakereh Khaleeli [Swamy Sharaddananda @ Murali Manohar vs Union of India and ors]..This is the second time that the Supreme Court refused to grant parole to Shraddhanand.He has remained in prison for over 30 years after he was convicted for murdering his wife, Khaleeli, who was the granddaughter of the former Diwan of Mysore.The Court had already rejected one parole plea by Shraddhanand in April last year, before he moved a second petition in July this year. The Bench of Justices BR Gavai, Prashant Kumar Mishra and KV Viswanathan rejected this second plea today as not maintainable. .However, the Bench has issued notice on a plea filed by Shraddhanand to review a July 2008 decision by which his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment on the condition that he remain in jail for the remainder of his life, with no parole, furlough or remission.This decision to prevent Shraddhanand from getting released on remission or parole was questioned in a review plea that was filed in May. His counsel argued today that with time, people change."It is about behaviour that is the only question before the executive authority. No other question for grant of remission. Whether he is showing reform ... Am I still the same person at the time of commission of the offence? Furlough is a right of every convict so is parole, which I am denied. Remission comes sometime later. I got 'best qaidi' award 5 times. Furlough and parole was given to Rajiv Gandhi assassins also, who are terrorists, even they got these reprieves," his counsel submitted.The Bench proceeded to issue notice and asked the government of Madhya Pradesh (where the convict is currently jailed) and the Karnataka government to file their replies within four weeks."Issue notice. Taking into consideration the fact that the petitioner has remained incarcerated, we condone the delay," the Bench ordered today..Shraddhanand married Shakereh Khaleeli in 1986. He is said to have murdered her around 1991 by drugging her and burying her alive in their own backyard. Her remains were found only in 1994 and Shraddhanand was arrested for the crime. A trial court in Bengaluru convicted him for the murder and sentenced him to death in 2000. The trial court verdict was upheld by the Karnataka High Court in 2005. When the matter reached the Supreme Court, his conviction was upheld but his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by a 2008 judgment. However, the top court clarified that he would remain in jail for the rest of his life, without any scope for remission (early release from prison) or parole (leave). This condition has now been questioned in Shraddhanand's review plea. .A docuseries titled Dancing on the Grave that had chronicled this case and the sordid events leading up to it had also earlier been objected to by Shradhanand on the ground that it prejudices his remission plea. A plea by Shradhanand to stay the streaming of the show was dismissed today along with his second parole plea..Shraddhanand's plea was filed through Advocate Varun Thakur.Senior Advocate Sanjay Hedge with Advocates Pranjal Kishore and Madiya Mushtaq appeared for Rehane Khaleeli, the first informant in the murder case and the daughter of the deceased (Shakereh Khaleeli).