As a Tihar inmate, getting parole was an unusual bit of luck for Manu Sharma. According to an affidavit filed by the Delhi government in August, of the 33 parole applications received this year, only 11 have been allowed. Eighty-eight applications are currently under consideration.

On June 13, 28 “depressed” convicts, many serving life sentences at Tihar, wrote to Delhi High Court Chief Justice A P Shah seeking intervention in their parole applications. Their letter, which was later converted to a public interest petition by the Chief Justice, said parole is granted for a total of just six hours in case of emergencies like death or illness in the family.

“Getting parole in Delhi is next to impossible,” the convicts wrote. “Prisoners in Delhi are away from their family for years, they are cut off from society, all of us are sad and our morale is low.”

An inspection report by Additional District and Sessions Judge and Member Secretary of the Delhi Legal Services Authority Asha Menon said the letter revealed the “practical state of affairs” in the Capital. “Only five to 10 per cent (of convicts) in Delhi are let off on parole, that too for very little time,” Menon submitted before the court.

The government affidavit said that only 24 requests for parole were granted out of a total 180 applications last year. Nine are still under consideration.

So, what makes Manu Sharma, sentenced to life on December 20, 2006, different?

He has been repeatedly denied bail, the latest occasion being on May 12, 2008, when Supreme Court Justice C K Thakker said “the manner in which the crime is committed and the gravity of offence clearly makes no case for grant of bail”.

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