Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday pulled up the Maharashtra government after it was informed that the Sajjad Mugal Pathan, convicted for murdering lawyer Pallavi Purkayastha in 2012, has been absconding and is yet to be traced.
A division bench presided over Justice Ranjit More and Justice Girish Kulkarni also directed the Nasik jail authorities to file a report spelling out the steps they have taken to trace Pathan, who is still at large. This comes after Nasik jail authorities granted parole to Pathan in February this year.
The bench was hearing the appeal filed by the state government against the verdict of a session court which in 2014 granted lifetime imprisonment to Pathan. The state has sought capital punishment for him.
Special Public Prosecutor Ashok Mundargi told the bench that the Nasik jail authorities have filed an FIR against Pathan soon after he escaped the custody. He also told the bench that since Pathan was from Jammu and Kashmir, he could have crossed the Line Of Control (LOC).
After hearing the submissions advanced, the bench said, “Do you seriously think that mere lodging of FIR would help? We want to know the steps you have taken to trace him out. This is a very serious issue. We fail to understand how a person convicted in such a serious offence was granted parole? We would monitor this case bring all the paper of this matter in the next hearing.”
The bench also voiced their concern over the issue of convicts jumping paroles and furloughs. The matter would be next heard on December 21.
