Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: The Bombay High Court at Goa has reserved its judgment on a series of petitions concerning the proposed premature release of convicts in the 2006 abduction and murder of Mandar Surlakar, following the completion of arguments by all parties.
The Bench concluded the hearing on Monday after taking on record written submissions, supporting notes and a timeline of events filed by the petitioners and the respondents, in accordance with directions issued during the previous hearing.
One of the petitions has been filed by Deepak Surlakar, father of the deceased, who has challenged the recommendation made by the Goa State Sentence Review (SSR) Board in favour of considering the convicts for early release. He has opposed any remission, arguing that the sentence awarded by the court should be fully served.
The connected matters include petitions filed by convicts Rohan Pai Dhungat, Shankar Tiwari and Ryan Pinto, as well as a separate plea by Jovita Ryan Dos Remedios Pinto, who is currently serving her sentence at the Central Jail in Colvale.
During the earlier proceedings, counsel appearing for Dhungat submitted that his client had completed the required qualifying period of 14 years in prison, including time spent on parole, making him eligible for consideration under the state’s remission policy.
The High Court was informed that although the State Sentence Review Board had recommended Dhungat’s case and called for the necessary reports, the Presiding Officer of the Children’s Court that convicted him opposed the proposal. The state government subsequently rejected his request for premature release.
With arguments concluded, the High Court has reserved its verdict, which will decide the future course of the remission applications and the challenge raised by the victim’s family.
