Kerala High Court Permits Convict To Attend Daughter's Enrolment Ceremony As Lawyer

The Kerala High Court on Thursday (October 9) allowed the plea of a convict to be granted parole to attend the enrolment ceremony of his daughter.

The petitioner is undergoing imprisonment at the Central Prison and Correctional Home, Tavanur for committing offences under Sections 324 [Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means], 307 [Attempt to murder], 120B[Punishment for criminal conspiracy] r/w 34 [Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention] IPC.

He preferred the writ petition after his application for emergency leave was rejected by the Superintendent of the jail.

Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan referred to the decision in Bindhu K.P. v. State of Kerala and Ors., where it was clearly held that emergency leave cannot be granted in all circumstances. The judge prima facie opined that the petitioner is not entitled to emergency leave.

However, the Court felt that in the peculiar circumstances of the case, it has to look into the matter from the perspective of the petitioner's daughter as well. It observed:

"This Court cannot shut its eyes to the feeling of the daughter...A young girl completed her LLB course, and it is her dream to enroll as a lawyer. Her intention is to do the same in the presence of her father, who is in jail. Even if the petitioner is a convict and the whole world is treated him as a criminal, the father will be one of the hero of every child. Let that girl enroll as a lawyer in the presence of her father."

The Court thus granted five days leave to the petitioner, while also making it clear that the decision cannot be considered as a precedent.

Case No: WP (Crl.) No. 1313 of 2025

Case Title: Abdul Muneer v. The Superintendent and Ors.

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Ker) 634

Counsel for the petitioner: Sunny Mathew, Bhavana K.K.

Counsel for the respondents: Hrithwik C.S. - Senior Public Prosecutor 

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