Overview
- The court validated Clause F(3) of Standing Order No. 01 of 2019, which requires a one-year observation period for convicts re-admitted after a gap of more than a year before they become eligible for furlough.
- A division bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela found the standing order supplemental to the Delhi Prison Rules and consistent with the Delhi Prisons Act.
- Challenges under Articles 14 and 21 were rejected, with the court reasoning that prisoners returning after long release need time to readjust to jail discipline.
- The bench declined the petitioner’s alternative request to cut the watch period to six months, keeping the one-year requirement intact for Delhi prisons.
- In the petitioner’s case, authorities were directed to consider any furlough application filed after November 13 expeditiously in accordance with law.