Randhir @ Nikhil Ashok Singh v. State of Maharashtra and Anr.
Furlough leave – Writ under Article 226 of the Constitution of India
Case brief
What is this about?
Bombay High Court (Circuit Bench at Kolhapur), Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction, Writ Petition No.3057 of 2025, decided 8 October 2025; Coram M.S. Karnik & Sharmila U. Deshmukh, JJ (oral order per M.S. Karnik, J.). Randhir @ Nikhil Ashok Singh v. State of Maharashtra & Ors.: furlough leave of a prisoner convicted under the Maharashtra Control Organized Crime Act, 1999; validity of a later rejection order passed after furlough had been granted; absence of review power with the DIG of Prisons over his own furlough grant order; non-retrospective operation of the Maharashtra Prison (Mumbai Furlough and Parole Leave) (Amendment Rule) 2024 (effective 2 December 2024) on a pre-amendment application; reduction of monetary condition from Rs. 2,00,000 to Rs. 20,000; writ allowed, impugned order dated 16 January 2025 quashed.
What did the court decide?
Petition allowed: impugned order dated 16 January 2025 quashed and set aside; petitioner entitled to furlough leave in terms of respondent No.3's order dated 19 December 2024; condition No.1 of that order modified by substituting the sum of Rs. 2,00,000/- with Rs. 20,000/-.