IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA, CHANDIGARH Criminal Miscellaneous No. M-23248 of 2009 Date of Decision: February 24, 2010 Parveen Kumar @ Kaptan Singh .....PETITIONER(S) VERSUS State of Haryana & Others .....RESPONDENT(S) . . . CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AJAI LAMBA PRESENT: - Mr. A.S. Trikha, Advocate, for the petitioner. Mr. Tarun Aggarwal, Senior Deputy Advocate General, Haryana, for the respondents. . . . AJAI LAMBA, J (Oral) This petition has been filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C. for issuance of direction to the Director General of Prisons, Haryana to transfer the convict-petitioner, Parveen Kumar @ Kaptan Singh son of Ranbir Singh, to District Jail, Karnal. Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that the petitioner is entitled to be kept in prison in Karnal because his family resides there. Conduct of the petitioner in jail Crl. Misc. No. M-23248 of 2009 [2] is only required to be considered and no other issue can be taken into account for that purpose. Dr. John V. George, IPS, Director General of Prisons, Haryana has filed his affidavit in regard to the facts of the case. It has been brought out that the petitioner and five other co-accused were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in case FIR No.264 dated 23.5.2003 under Sections 148, 149, 302, 307, 333, 353, 186 IPC, Police Station, Civil Lines, Rohtak, on 11.8.2008. The said persons were confined in District Jail, Rohtak. The convicts are hard-core criminals and were active members of “Krishan Dechao Gang”. It was noticed by the Superintendent, District Jail, Rohtak that the convicts tried to vitiate the atmosphere in District Jail, Rohtak. It was accordingly concluded that it would not be in the interest of security of the jail to keep them in District Jail, Rohtak. In such circumstances, a request was made by the Superintendent, District Jail, Rohtak for transfer of the convicts to another jail in the interest of jail discipline and security. Under the above circumstances, the convicts were transferred to District Jail, Narnaul vide Order dated 11.8.2008. During the Crl. Misc. No. M-23248 of 2009 [3] course when the petitioner was undergoing sentence, he was released on furlough on 21.11.2009 for three weeks as per order issued by the Commissioner, Gurgaon Division, Gurgaon. The petitioner accordingly was directed to surrender in Narnaul Jail on 13.12.2009 at 10.00 A.M. The petitioner is also a convict in FIR No.380 dated 20.8.1999 and sentenced to undergo 6 years rigorous imprisonment for commission of offence under Section 307 IPC and Section 25 of the Arms Act vide judgment dated 13.5.2002. The petitioner instead of surrendering, managed withdrawal of sureties on the basis of which he had been released on bail. Be that as it may, by way of manipulation, the petitioner went to District Jail, Karnal while showing his name as Kaptan Singh @ Parveen Kumar son of Ranbir Singh. The deponent/ Director General of Prisons has clearly stated that if the petitioner is left in District Jail, Karnal, he would be able to activate his gang and cause mischief. It would be dangerous to the security of the jail and also the public at large. The discretion of the jailer is required to be considered in regard to the discipline to be maintained in jail. The petitioner, a convict in more than one cases, Crl. Misc. No. M-23248 of 2009 [4] cannot be allowed the discretion to choose the place where he is to be kept. In such circumstances, I find the reasons assigned by the Director General of Prisons in his affidavit to be reasonable. Under these circumstances, no interference is called for. The petition is dismissed. It is made clear that jail authorities would be at liberty to house the petitioner in which ever jail it is considered reasonable considering security of the jail, jail discipline and public interest. Order be conveyed to the Director General of Prisons, Haryana. (AJAI LAMBA) February 24, 2010 JUDGE avin 1. To be referred to the Reporters or not? 2. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest?