Punjab and Haryana High Court: a 'without parole' life sentence bars parole until the condition is modified

23 October 2026

A Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, at Chandigarh, has held that a convict sentenced to imprisonment for the whole of his biological life without parole cannot be granted parole while that condition in the sentencing order stands. The convict had challenged the District Magistrate's refusal of eight weeks' parole under the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 2022, citing the need to look after his sister. The Bench of Justice Anoop Chitkara and Justice Harmeet Singh Deol dismissed the petition, holding that this need "does not displace the express condition in the subsisting sentencing order". It noted that the Supreme Court in Swamy Shraddananda v. State of Karnataka recognised a special category of sentence — life imprisonment with a direction that the convict not be released for the rest of his life — as an alternative to the death penalty, and that the trial court's 'without parole' condition was imposed in furtherance of that principle. The Bench left two routes open: a fresh representation to the competent authority if a genuine urgency arises, and an application to modify or set aside the 'without parole' condition.