1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF BOMBAY AT GOA CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION NO. 65 OF 2009 Ramdas Patil Central Prisoner No.452, presently serving sentence at Central jail Aguada, Sinquerim, Goa. ... Petitioner versus 1. State of Goa, through, Secretary(Home) Home Department(General) Secretariat, Porvorim, Goa. 2. The Inspector General of Prisons, Collectorate, North Goa, Panaji, Goa. 3. The Superintendent of Prisons, Central Jail Aguada-Goa. ... Respondents Ms. Asha Dessai, Advocate for the Petitioner. Shri C. A. Ferreira, Public Prosecutor for the Respondents. CORAM : N. A. BRITTO, J. DATE : 15TH SEPTEMBER, 2009. ORAL JUDGMENT Heard. 2. Rule. By consent heard forthwith. 2 3. The Petitioner is a life convict undergoing sentence w.e.f. 27-9-1997. The Petitioner had applied for parole and furlough earlier and was granted furlough twice in the year 2007. The Petitioner filed an application for parole for 60 days on the ground that the Petitioner's mother was to be operated of cataract of both the eyes. That application came to be rejected by Order dated 28-7-2009 observing that the Superintendent of Police had confirmed that the mother of the prisoner has cataract in both her eyes and needed urgent surgery but the said mother was being looked after by her daughter Smt. Asha Dessai. 4. A cataract operation cannot be considered to be a serious illness as contemplated by Rule 324 of the Goa Prisons Rules, 2006. Regarding Rule 324, it was stated by this Court in an unreported Judgment dated 27-7-2007 in Criminal Writ Petition No. 21 of 2007 as follows:- "Rule 324 provides as to when parole is to be granted. It states that parole may be granted to a prisoner in the event of emergent situations like death or serious illness of father, mother, brother, sister, spouse and children and also marriage of brother, sister and children. The question is whether the Petitioner's father could be considered to be suffering from a serious illness. The Petitioner's father, as disclosed in the medical certificate is suffering from stricture of the ureterra and is under treatment at the Regional Hospital, Kullu, H.P. and is required to undergo surgery and for that an attendant is necessary. Not every illness is serious. Serious, inter alia, means important, weighty. An illness which is likely to permanently or materially 3 impair, the health of the prisoner's father could be considered to be serious". 5. If at all the prisoners are granted facilities to be released either on furlough or parole, they are to be given the facilities as contemplated by the Rules. Learned Counsel on behalf of the Petitioner submits that a cataract operation as far as an individual is concerned is a serious illness but such a submission cannot be accepted. No Medical Officer performs cataract operation at one time. In any event, an ordinary cataract operation cannot be considered to be serious as considered by Rule 324 of the said Rules. 6. In the light of that, the impugned Order does not call for interference. Petition disposed of. N.A. BRITTO, J. RD