Taking exception to the "utmost speed" with which parole was granted to Jessica Lall murder case convict Manu Sharma, the Delhi High Court on Friday pulled up the city government for giving preferential treatment to convicts having high connections.
Justice Kailash Gambhir said that in normal cases the government takes three to six months to decide the parole application of a convict but in case of Manu Sharma it disposed of his plea within 20 days.
"The list (regarding number of parole applications) depicts a dismal picture showing the government is giving least priority to parole applications of convicts. No doubt, the Home Department has given selective treatment to some convicts because of their high connections," he said. "No doubt, one such case is of Siddharth Vashist alias Manu Sharma whose application of parole was disposed of with utmost impromptu," the court said.
The Court directed the government to take an unbiased approach while dealing with parole pleas and asked it to decide all the 98 pending parole applications within a month. "The government cannot sit over the application of the convicts for unduly long time. It cannot favour or disfavour someone and every convict should be treated alike without any favour of disfavour," the court said pointing out that in some cases the parole application has been pending with the government for the last five months.
