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The Rajasthan High Court, while granting parole to the convict, had observed that the wife of the prisoner was deprived of her right to have progeny, even though she had not committed any offence and was not under any punishment.
A Supreme Court bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Bela Trivedi on Monday refused to entertain a plea by Rajasthan Government challenging the order of the High Court which granted a 15-day Parole to a man, serving life sentence, for the purpose of impregnating his wife.
A Rajasthan High Court bench of Justices Sandeep Mehta and Farjand Ali while allowing the application preferred by the convict through his wife, which sought emergent parole on grounds of "want of progeny", stated that the wife of the prisoner had been deprived of her right to have progeny, even though she had not committed any offence and was not under any punishment.
In this light, the High Court stated that not allowing the convict prisoner to perform conjugal relationship would adversely affect the rights of the prisoner's wife.
"She should not be deprived to live in a condition wherein she has to suffer living without her husband and then without having any children from her husband for no fault of her," the High Court added.
While relying on Jasvir Singh and Another v. State of Punjab 2015, where the case involved important rights with regard to conjugal rights of prisoners, the High Court said that in the said case, it was held that the “right to procreation survives during incarceration” and “is traceable and squarely falls within the ambit of Article 21 of our Constitution”.
The state had challenged the judgment of the High Court on the ground that, "the order opened flood gates and many convicts are now applying for parole on the same ground."
The bench while dismissing the plea, observed that the government can oppose each case at the High Court upon such petitions being filed.
Case title: State of Rajasthan Vs Nand Lal
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