PANAJI
The High Court of Bombay at Goa on Monday reserved its verdict on a batch of petitions related to the 2006 kidnapping and murder of Mandar Surlakar, including a plea by the victim’s father, Deepak Surlakar, challenging the Goa State Sentence Review (SSR) Board’s recommendation for the premature release of the convicts.
The Court reserved its order after accepting written submissions, notes and a chronology of events from all parties, as directed during the previous
hearing.
Last week, the Court had asked all parties to file their written submissions by July 13. The petitions include those filed by convicts Rohan Pai Dhungat, Shankar Tiwari and Ryan Pinto, along with other connected matters, including a petition by Jovita Ryan Dos Remedios Pinto, who is serving her sentence at the Central Jail in Colvale.
At the previous hearing, counsel for Dhungat told the Court that he had completed 14 years of imprisonment, including the period spent on parole, making him eligible to be considered for premature release under the applicable policy.
The Court was informed that the SSR Board had recommended Dhungat’s case for consideration and sought the required reports. However, the Presiding Officer of the Children’s Court, which had convicted him, opposed the proposal, following which the government rejected his application for premature release.
Deepak Surlakar has also challenged the SSR Board’s recommendation, arguing that the convicts should not be granted
remission.
