General provisions.

(1) A convicted prisoner shall be entitled for consideration for a regular parole or furlough or emergency parole or custody parole under this Act only, if he is on bail in all the cases which are pending against him before any Court or competent authority.

(2) (a) The parole or furlough cases of convicted prisoners who are convicted by the Courts having jurisdiction outside the State of Haryana and who are undergoing imprisonment in a jail of Haryana on reciprocal basis or otherwise, shall be initiated by the Superintendent Jail and forwarded to the competent authority of that State where from he was convicted, for consideration or sanction or disposal as per the parole or furlough Act or rules of that State.

(b) The parole or furlough cases of convicted prisoners who are convicted by the Courts having jurisdiction in the State of Haryana and who are undergoing imprisonment in a jail in other States on reciprocal basis or otherwise, shall be initiated by the Superintendent Jail concerned and shall be forwarded to the competent authority in the State of Haryana wherefrom he was convicted, for consideration/sanction/disposal as per the provisions of this Act.

(c) In case of a convicted prisoner of the State of Haryana who is also a convict of the State(s) other than Haryana and is confined in a jail of Haryana or other State, his parole or furlough case shall be decided by the competent authority of the State where from he has been convicted and sentenced for more serious crime. If, the prisoner is convicted for the same offence in different State(s), his parole or furlough case shall be decided by the competent authority where from he is convicted first. In such cases, the consent or no objection certificate of all other State(s) shall also be obtained: Provided that if objection is not received within one month, it shall be presumed that the State(s) has no objection for grant of parole or furlough.

(d) A convicted prisoner who is resident of a State other than Haryana but is a convicted prisoner of the State of Haryana, parole or furlough case of such convicted prisoner shall be initiated by the Superintendent Jail and forwarded for sanction to the competent authority with a copy to the District Magistrate, Deputy Commissioner of Police or Superintendent of Police, where the prisoner wants to avail parole or furlough, for sending his report or recommendation to the competent authority within the specified time limit.

(e) In case of convicted prisoner who is sentenced by a General Court-martial, the parole or furlough shall be granted by the Army authorities as per the provisions of clause (d) of section 179 of the Army Act, 1950 (Central Act 46 of 1950): Provided that the custody parole may be granted to such convicted prisoner by the Superintendent Jail.

(3) Any convicted prisoner who has been awarded a minor punishment for any jail offence, shall not be eligible for any kind of parole for six months from the date of such offence; and a convicted prisoner who has been awarded a major punishment for any jail offence or has violated the conditions of temporary release, he shall not be eligible for any kind of parole for one year from the date of such offence: Provided that such convicted prisoner may be sent on custody parole to attend funeral of his family members.

(4) Subsequent parole or furlough case of a convicted prisoner shall be initiated only after receipt of report of in-charge of police station concerned through the Superintendent of Police or the Deputy Commissioner of Police regarding his conduct during the temporary release or after one month of his surrender in the jail after availing last sanctioned parole or furlough, whichever is earlier: Provided that the emergency parole shall be granted to the convicted prisoner anytime irrespective of the fact that his other parole or furlough case is still under consideration.

(5) No parole or furlough shall be extended in any case.

(6) Ordinarily, co-accused convicted prisoners shall not be granted regular parole or furlough simultaneously.

(7) The validity period of emergency parole warrant shall be for fifteen days from the date of issuance of the order.

(8) The validity period of a regular parole or a furlough warrant shall be for four months from the date of issuance of the order. The specific date of release or surrender shall not be fixed in the release warrant.

(9) The criminal case under sub-section (2) of section 9 shall be registered at the police station where the temporary release period is being spent or address given in the application by the eligible convicted prisoner. In case of the address being outside the State of Haryana, the criminal case shall be registered at the police station under whose jurisdiction the jail is situated.

(10) In case of rejection of regular parole or furlough by the competent authority, another application for the same purpose shall not be considered before a period of three months from the date of rejection.

(11) Before any convicted prisoner is released on parole or furlough, he shall execute a bond amounting to minimum one lakh rupees extendable to three lakh rupees alongwith minimum two sureties to the satisfaction of the competent authority. The bond shall be conditioned that the convicted prisoner or the hardcore convicted prisoner, as the case may be, shall surrender before the Jail Superintendent before the expiry of furlough or parole period: Provided that in case of hardcore convicted prisoner, a bond shall be executed amounting to minimum two lakh rupees extendable to five lakh rupees alongwith minimum two sureties to the satisfaction of the competent authority: Provided further that the surety amount shall not be more than one lakh rupees and three lakh rupees respectively for those convicted prisoners and hardcore convicted prisoners who have peacefully availed two regular parole and one furlough: Provided further that the competent authority may call for more than two sureties to a maximum limit of five by recording reasons in writing.

(12) The competent authority while accepting the bond under sub-section (11), may impose such conditions, as it may deem fit. The fitness or sufficiency of the sureties shall be determined by the competent authority.