Citing Kafka, Delhi HC orders release of former President’s Bodyguard man convicted of rape
The bench said the SRB’s decision to not grant Harpreet early release in 2024 and its subsequent approval by the Lieutenant Governor were “arbitrary, irrational, and contrary to the record”.
Turning to The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, the Delhi High Court has ordered early release of Harpreet Singh, a former member of the President’s Bodyguard who was sentenced to life imprisonment, along with colleague Satender Singh, for the gangrape of a college student at the Buddha Jayanti Park in the Capital in 2003.
Describing the Sentence Review Board’s decision-making process as “fundamentally flawed”, Justice Neena Bansal Krishna, in her order on January 30, observed that the convict, Harpreet Singh, “has been trapped by the State in the frozen image of his past criminality”.
The bench said the SRB’s decision to not grant Harpreet early release in 2024 and its subsequent approval by the Lieutenant Governor were “arbitrary, irrational, and contrary to the record”.
Harpreet, represented by advocate Sumer Boparai, had submitted that he is a reformed individual, who has been placed on the commendation roll, awarded certificates of recognition on at least three occasions, participated in various activities, and worked in a diligent and disciplined manner while in prison.
Turning to Kafka, Justice Krishna said, “Much like Gregor Samsa, the Petitioner, has been trapped by the State in the frozen image of his past criminality – viewed perpetually as the gigantic insect of 2003, rather than the reformed individual of 2025. The SRB, by mechanically reiterating the heinousness of the original offence, as a constant and permanent bar to release, has refused to acknowledge that the Petitioner has successfully undergone a reverse metamorphosis: shedding the propensity for crime and earning his place back in humanity, through 25 years of exemplary conduct and discipline.”
“The Petitioner’s journey, from being a public servant who fell into crime to a prisoner who earned 21 years of clean conduct and multiple commendations – demonstrates that the reformative objective of his sentence has been fulfilled.”
“While Kafka’s protagonist was ultimately destroyed by the alienation of those who could not see past his shell, the Constitution of India, anchored in the Reformative Theory, forbids the State from condemning a prisoner to such eternal alienation, when the objective of correction has been achieved,” the order stated.
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“To allow the ‘uneasy dreams’ of a decades-old crime, to eclipse the verified reality of the Petitioner’s Nil propensity for future violence, would be to reduce the justice system to a retributive cage,” Justice Krishna said, ordering Harpreet’s release.
A similar plea for premature release by Satender, the other convict in the case, is pending before the Delhi High Court.
Sohini Ghosh is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express. Previously based in Ahmedabad covering Gujarat, she recently moved to the New Delhi bureau, where she primarily covers legal developments at the Delhi High Court
Professional Profile
Background: An alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), she previously worked with ET NOW before joining The Indian Express.
Core Beats: Her reporting is currently centered on the Delhi High Court, with a focus on high-profile constitutional disputes, disputes over intellectual property, criminal and civil cases, issues of human rights and regulatory law (especially in the areas of technology and healthcare).
Earlier Specialty: In Gujarat, she was known for her rigorous coverage in the beats of crime, law and policy, and social justice issues, including the 2002 riot cases, 2008 serial bomb blast case, 2016 flogging of Dalits in Una, among others.
She has extensively covered health in the state, including being part of the team that revealed the segregation of wards at the state’s largest government hospital on lines of faith in April 2020.
With Ahmedabad being a UNESCO heritage city, she has widely covered urban development and heritage issues, including the redevelopment of the Sabarmati Ashram
Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025)
Her recent reporting from the Delhi High Court covers major political, constitutional, corporate, and public-interest legal battles:
High-Profile Case Coverage
She has extensively covered the various legal battles - including for compensation under the aegis of North East Delhi Riots Claims Commission - pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, as well as 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
She has also led coverage at the intersection of technology and governance, and its impact on the citizenry, from, and beyond courtrooms — such as the government’s stakeholder consultations for framing AI-Deepfake policy.
Signature Style
Sohini is recognized for her sustained reporting from courtrooms and beyond. She specialises in breaking down dense legal arguments to make legalese accessible for readers. Her transition from Gujarat to Delhi has seen her expand her coverage on regulatory, corporate and intellectual property law, while maintaining a strong commitment to human rights and lacuna in the criminal justice system.
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