said Rules stating that in case of acceding to the prayers/request of the convict to release him on parole on the ground of death of his close relative, the convict can not be released after expiry of 10 days from the death of nearest relative. Upon perusal of sub Rule (2) of Rule 18 of the aforesaid Rules, it is crystal clear that the Superintendent of Prison shall also be the competent authority to release a convicted prisoner on parole for the period not exceeding 15 days, in case of death of his close relation i.e. father, mother, brother, sister, spouse or child of the prisoner. In the present case, it is not disputed by the respondents that Sandeep, son of the petitioner, died on 8.10.2016. It also appears from the reasons assigned by the competent authority that delay caused in taking decision and release of the petitioner, was due to not receiving the police report till 17.10.2016. The provisions of Rule 19 are very clear, wherein it is provided that, in case parole is to be granted on the ground stated in Sub- Rule (2) of Rule 18 of the said Rules, on the ground of death of nearest relative of the convict, in that case police report is not necessary. In that view of the matter and keeping in view observations of Division Bench of this Court, in the case of Rameshwar Shivram Jadhav vs. The State of Maharashtra (supra) and in particular para 4 thereof, we are of the opinion that the petition deserves to be allowed.
