Supreme Court orders release of all convicts languishing in jail despite completion of sentence

The Supreme Court recently ordered State governments and Union Territories (UTs) across the country to release all convicts who are still in jail despite completing their sentences [Sukhdev Yadav @ Pehalwan v. State of NCT of Delhi].

In a judgment delivered on July 29, a Bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and KV Viswanathan ordered the authorities to ascertain whether any convict is continuing in jail beyond the period of sentence. If such people are found, they must be released, the Court directed.

"Copy of this order should be circulated by the Registry of the Court to the home Secretaries of all states and UTs to ascertain whether any accused or convict has remained in jail beyond the period of sentence. If so, issue directions for release of such convicts if not wanted in any other cases," the Court ordered.

It also directed the supply of the judgment to the legal services authorities at the national, state, UT and district levels for proper implementation.

The Court passed the directions while dealing with a plea filed by Sukhdev Pehalwan, a convict in the Nitish Katara murder case, seeking release from jail.

Katara, a business executive, was kidnapped and murdered in 2002, in what the trial court described as a case of “honour killing”. Vikas Yadav, the son of a former Member of Parliament, had opposed his sister’s alleged relationship with Katara.

Vikas Yadav and two other co-accused, Vishal Yadav and Sukhdev Pehalwan, were convicted for the crime and awarded life imprisonment by the trial court in 2008. 

After this jail term was upheld by the Delhi High Court, the matter reached the Supreme Court as well. In October 2016, the Supreme Court upheld the sentence, adding that Vikas and Vishal Yadav would serve 25 years of rigorous imprisonment and Pehalwan would serve 20 years in prison, without remission.

Pehalwan completed 20 years in jail in March this year.

Since his furlough application was pending, he was not released in March.

He was granted furlough on June 25 and was out of prison since then.

The Court ordered on July 29 that he should have been released since March itself.

It added that the sentence review board cannot sit in judgment over orders already judicially determined by the courts.

[Read Judgment]

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