1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF BOMBAY AT GOA CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION NO. 68 OF 2008 Shri Subhash Samal Presently serving sentence at Central Jail Aguada, Goa. ... Petitioner. Versus 1) State of Goa, through Chief Secretary, Secretariat, Alto Porvorim, Goa. 2) The Inspector General of Prison, Collectorate Building, North Goa Panaji. 3) The Superintendent of Prison, Sinquerim, Aguada, Goa. ... Respondents. Ms Asha Dessai, Advocate for the Petitioner. Ms Winnie Coutinho, Public Prosecutor for the respondents. Coram :- A. P. LAVANDE, J. Date : - 13 th October, 2008 . ORAL JUDGMENT : 1. Heard Ms. Dessai, learned Counsel for the petitioner and 2 Ms. W. Coutinho, Public Prosecutor for the respondents. Rule. By consent heard forthwith. 2. By filing present petition, the petitioner seeks direction against the respondents to decide parole application dated 14.5.2007 filed by him within a period of 30 days. 3. The petitioner, who is presently serving sentence in Aguada jail, Goa, sought parole by filing application dated 14.5.2007. The petitioner hails from Cuttack in Orissa State. According to Ms W. Coutinho, Public Prosecutor, police report from the concerned police station in State of Orissa, has been called, but till date the respondents have not received any communication from the concerned police station, and, therefore, no decision has been taken by the respondents on the application filed by the petitioner seeking parole. 4. When a convict files an application for parole, it is expected of the competent authority to decide the application expeditiously. In the present case, the application has not been decided for a period of almost 17 months. It is, therefore, considered necessary to direct the respondents to decide the application within a period of four weeks from today. The respondents are expected to take whatever appropriate steps to secure the police report from the concerned police 3 station. 5. Rule is made absolute in the aforesaid terms. A. P. LAVANDE, J. SMA