Decide remission plea of ’93 blasts convict: HC to jail

According to Adajania’s lawyer N N Gavankar, Clause (i) of Rule 14 of the Remission System, 1962, empowers the jail superintendent to grant special remission “for any other sufficient cause” apart from other grounds like good conduct, assistance to prison officials, consistent good work, etc.

The petition of 82-year-old Adajania cites serious health problems and old age as grounds for seeking remission for the two months that remain in his one-year sentence. It attributes Adajani’s deteriorating condition to his hip-joint surgery and states that other inmates have to pick him up whenever he needs to answer nature’s call. “Even when he sleeps, he cannot turn from one side to the other in bed due to severe pain. In these circumstances, there is an extreme urgency in deciding the petitioner’s application for special remission,” the petition urges.

Adajania surrendered on December 12, 2013, after he was released on September 13, 2013, so that he could undergo surgery. “In these pitiable circumstances, the petitioner filed an application for remission on January 2, 2014 to the Superintendent Nashik Central Prison to grant him ‘state remission’ of two months,” states the petition. However, the authorities have not decided on the application as yet, said Ganvankar.

“Without entering into the merits of the claim or entitlement of the petitioner, we direct the superintendent or any other concerned competent authority to decide the application of the petitioner and communicate its decision to the petitioner. This exercise shall be completed within two weeks from today,” said a division bench comprising Justice Naresh Patil and Justice V L Achliya last week.

aamir.khan@expressindia.com