Home / Crime and Justice / Court Rules 'Heinousness' Not Permanent Bar to Remission
Court Rules 'Heinousness' Not Permanent Bar to Remission
3 Feb
Summary
- Prisoner released after 21 years with clean conduct.
- Remission plea rejected 12 times by Sentence Review Board.
- Court cited need for reformative justice over retribution.
The Delhi High Court has ruled that the gravity of a past crime should not perpetually prevent a prisoner's remission, ordering the release of Harpreet Singh. Singh, a former member of the President's Bodyguards, had been serving a life sentence since 2003 for a gang rape case involving a 17-year-old student.
Justice Neena Bansal Krishna noted Singh's 21 years of imprisonment with "clean conduct" and numerous commendations. The Sentence Review Board (SRB) had denied his remission requests 12 times, a stance the court deemed "bureaucratic haze."
The court stated that the offense's heinousness is a historical fact and should not serve as a lifelong bar to release, as this undermines the reformative justice system.
It criticized the SRB for keeping Singh "trapped in the frozen image of his past criminality" and disregarding his demonstrated reform over two decades.
In 2012, the high court had upheld the conviction of four former PBG members in the case, describing their actions as exhibiting "extreme depravity."
