Delhi High Court Grants Relief To 1993 Plane Hijacker In Plea Against Denial Of Premature Release
The Delhi High Court has granted relief to a man, convicted for hijacking an Indian Airlines flight in 1993, in his plea against the decision of the authorities denying him premature release.
Justice Sanjeev Narula set aside the decision of the sentence review board (SRB) and remanded the matter back for fresh consideration, noting that the convict's conduct in jail indicated elements of reformation.
The convict, Hari Singh, was given life imprisonment for the offences under Section 4 of the Anti-Hijacking Act, 19821 as well as Sections 353, 365 and 506(II) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. Reportedly, Singh had hijacked the plane because he was not happy with the then Hindu-Muslim riots going on across the country.
He was convicted by the trial court in 2001. His appeal was rejected by the High Court in 2011 and the special leave petition was withdrawn before the Supreme Court.
It was his case that his name was periodically taken up for consideration of premature release by the SRB but the same was consistently rejected on the ground of gravity of the offence.
As on May 12, Singh had undergone 17 years, 11 months and 6 days of actual imprisonment and of 22 years, 6 months and 20 days of total imprisonment, including remission.
Granting relief to Singh, the Court said that the reasoning provided by the SRB while rejecting Singh's application was inadequate and did not meet the requisite standards of reasonable justification necessary for an order passed by an executive authority under administrative mandate.
“Petitioner's conduct in jail does indicate elements of reformation, as even over a long period of incarceration (almost 18 years of actual imprisonment), there is no record of any untoward incident which would indicate that the Petitioner still harbours elements of criminality,” the Court said.
It remanded the matter back to SRB and directed it to take a decision within eight weeks.
Title: HARI SINGH v. STATE NCT OF DELHI & ORS