Can a State depart from its own Standing Policy in selecting cases for premature release?

No. The State having formulated Rules and a Standing Policy for deciding cases of premature release, it is bound by its own formulations of law. Since there are legal provisions which hold the field, it is not open to the State to adopt an arbitrary yardstick for picking up cases for premature release; it must strictly abide by the terms of its policies.

Uttar Pradesh Prisoners (Release on Probation) Act 1938 — Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 — s.432 — s.433A — Premature release — Policy on the date of conviction — Arbitrary yardstick — Premature release — Applicable policy — Date of conviction — Held: A convict’s case for premature release is governed by the policy in existence on the date of the conviction; where a more liberalised policy is instituted later, the case is to be considered on the basis of the more liberalised provision. (¶5, 6) Premature release — State bound by its own Rules and Standing Policy — Held further: Having formulated Rules and a Standing Policy, the State is bound by its own formulations of law and cannot adopt an arbitrary yardstick for picking up cases for premature release. (¶13) Premature release — Equal, efficient and transparent application — Held further: The provisions of the law must be applied equally to all persons, and efficiently and transparently, so as to obviate the grievance of uneven application; an arbitrary method is liable to grave abuse. Directions issued. (¶13, 15)

One judgment a day. That's the whole habit.

Read the full text of Rajkumar v. The State of Uttar Pradesh — and get the Supreme Court's output as a five-minute daily read, with plain-language headnotes and the questions each judgment settles.

Free forever plan · 30 seconds · data stays in India