Sister Abhaya Case: Plea Before Kerala High Court Challenging Order Granting Parole To Convicts Filed

A writ petition has been filed in the Kerala High Court challenging the order releasing the convicts in the Sister Abhaya murder case on parole, alleging that such a move was illegal. 

The petitioner Jomon Puthenpurackal is a Human Rights Activist and was a prosecution witness in the case before the Additional Sessions Court. Advocate Pirappancode V S Sudheer will be representing the petitioner. 

After a prolonged investigation, the Special Court had found Father Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sephy guilty of murder and sentenced both the accused to life imprisonment among other penalties by an order dated 23rd December 2020.

However, shortly after, on 11th and 12th May 2021 respectively, the said accused were released on parole by the Superintendents concerned in furtherance of the orders issued by the Director-General of Prisons & Correctional Services.

When the same was questioned, the petitioner was allegedly informed that the said order was issued upon the recommendations of the High-Powered Committee and various Government Orders issued based on the directions laid by the Supreme Court in In Re: Contagion of Covid 19 Virus In Prisons.

The petitioner submitted that the aforementioned directions only authorized the High-Power Committee to set the criterion for release of prisoners on parole, depending upon the nature of offence, the period of sentence, and severity of offence, or other relevant factors.

In fact, the petitioner emphasized that the said Committee later on clarified that it had not authorized the Director-General of Prisons to extend the benefits of parole to convicts who are undergoing imprisonment for life.

Moreover, the proceedings before the Committee dated 9th May 2021 clearly excluded convicts who have been sentenced to imprisonment for over 10 years while setting the criterion for parole, the petitioner asserted.

Additionally, the petitioner produced a letter authored by Member Secretary of KeLSA addressed to the petitioner, wherein it has explicitly stated that the High-Powered Committee has never recommended to release life convicts and clarified that the respondents herein were not released further to the recommendations of the Committee.

It becomes clear from these circumstances that the respondents took advantage of the sincere efforts of the Apex Court, the High Court and the High-Powered Committee to help them keep the COVID-19 cases in the prison facilities under check, by letting loose these criminals, whose "nocturnal misadventure paved way to the cold-blooded murder of the victim".

On the above grounds, the petitioner addressed a letter to the Director-General requiring to consider the nature of offence the prisoners are involved in, yet no action has been taken so far. Consequently, the petitioner was pressed to approach the Court. 

The petitioner has submitted that the orders granting parole to the respondents who were convicted by the Special Judge for committing a heinous offence, and awarded with the maximum punishment possible within five months from the date of the sentence are 'unjust, violative of the orders of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, and the guidelines laid by the High-Powered Committee and hence, liable to be quashed.

It was also brought to the notice of the Court that the convicts had already applied for bail, the proceedings of which are still pending before the Court. Given such circumstances. it was argued that it was absolutely illegal for the respondents to grant parole to the convicts during the pendency of these proceedings.

Background: 

Sister Abhaya was a 21-year-old Catholic nun, and an inmate of St. Pius Xth Convent Hostel, Kottayam pursuing her degree from the BCM College. Her body was found in a well on 28th March 1992 with a head injury at the rear of her head. 

Father Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sephy were found guilty of the murder after 28 years of investigation. Thereby, the Court convicted the accused in 2020 based on seventeen categoric circumstances. Accordingly, they were sentenced to life imprisonment. 

Case Title: Jomon Puthenpurackal vs. State of Kerala & Ors.