HC okays furlough plea of Amravati jail prsioner

Nagpur: The Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court granted a furlough of 28 days to a prisoner serving life imprisonment in Amravati Central Prison on Monday after it was rejected by the Deputy Inspector General of Prison (DIG) Eastern Region, Nagpur. The application of the prisoner Prakash Wahurwagh was submitted by the superintendent of police (SP) Akola to the DIG. Wahurwagh then approached the High Court after it was rejected without any consideration by the DIG. The petitioner is convicted for offence under section 302 and other sections od the Indian Penal Code (IPC) by sessions judge of Akola.
The DIG had stated that the reason for rejection was on the ground that the petitioner had gone on furlough in 2011 and had returned to the prison late by 598 days. Importantly, there was no FIR lodged against the petitioner on the basis of obstruction to his lawful apprehension i.e. section 224 of IPC.

There was no objection from the SP, Akola on the recent application of furlough who also submitted that Wahurwagh has not met his family since 2011 and his wife Maya had assured to give surety on his application. The petitioner also assured to undertake that he will surrender on the due date and abide by all the conditions imposed. The concerning point in the case was whether the DIG was justified to reject the petitioner’s application without considering the report submitted by the SP.

In the hearing on Monday it was mentioned that the petitioner had not been granted furlough since seven years. The bench was headed by Justices Sunil Shukre and Pushpa Ganediwala. Advocate Amol Chakotkar represented the petitioner.