PANAJI
The High Court of Bombay at Goa on Friday reserved its judgment on petitions seeking the premature release of three life convicts in the 2006 murder of Mandar Surlakar, along with a connected petition filed by the victim’s father opposing their release.
Life convicts Rohan Pai Dhungat, Ryan Pinto and Shankar Tiwari have sought premature release, while Deepak Surlakar, father of the deceased, has challenged their release before completion of their sentence.
The development came a day after the High Court directed the three convicts to deposit the fines imposed by the trial court and submit proof of payment. On Friday, the Court was informed that each convict had paid the pending fine of Rs 40,000. Receipts showing the payments, made on Thursday, were placed on record.
During the hearing, the Court examined the legal implications of the unpaid fines when the State Sentence Review Board considered the convicts’ cases, and whether the subsequent payment of the fines could affect the pending petitions.
The counsel referred to the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Bilkis Bano case, arguing that payment of fines and any related default sentence are relevant considerations. However, it was submitted that the issue did not arise when the State examined the matter, as it had rejected the Sentence Review Board’s recommendation for premature release.
The State argued that since it had not accepted the Board’s recommendation, there was no need to consider whether the fines had been paid before granting release. It submitted that the issue would have become relevant only if the recommendation had been accepted and the convicts were to be released.
After hearing the arguments, the High Court reserved its judgment on all the petitions.
