Essential For Muslim Father To Attend Daughter's Wedding: Kerala High Court Grants 4 Days Emergency Leave To Murder Convict

While granting emergency leave, Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas observed that on earlier occasions, when the petitioner's father was given emergency leave or ordinary leave, he had never overstayed and instead returned without any default.

“The factum of marriage of the petitioner is not disputed by the respondents. As the father of a daughter, and that too being a Muslim, it is essential that the father attends the wedding. There are no adverse reports against the conduct of the petitioner's father nor are there any apprehensions expressed by the respondents that he will abscond. In such circumstances, this Court is of the view that, petitioner's father ought to be granted emergency leave to attend the wedding of the petitioner scheduled to be held on 07.01.2024.”, the Court stated.

The petitioner is the daughter of a convict who has approached the Court seeking emergency parole for her father to attend her wedding. The marriage is on January 7, 2024, and she submitted that her marriage would not take place if her father was not granted parole. She also submitted that on an earlier occasion, her marriage was postponed because her father was not granted parole.

The Additional Public Prosecutor P Narayanan submitted that the petitioner's father was granted emergency leave on earlier occasions to attend the wedding of his two other daughters. It was also submitted that the petitioner's father was also given an emergency leave to attend his mother's funeral. It was contended that emergency parole was rejected for valid reasons.

The Court allowed the writ petition and granted four days of emergency leave to the petitioner's father to attend her wedding.

Counsel for the petitioner: Advocates Subash Chandran, Jeevlin Jiji,Gayathri Muraleedharan, Arathy P

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Ker) 17

Case title: XXX v State of Kerala

Case number: WP(CRL.) NO. 1337 OF 2023

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