Parole rules for Union-list offences exclude State framework, and fine payment cannot be made a precondition for consideration.

Rule 1(c) of the Rajasthan Prisoners Release on Parole Rules, 1958 excludes their application to prisoners convicted of offences relating to matters within the executive power of the Union, including NDPS offences. Such cases are governed by the Central Government's 1955 parole framework, under which the State may consider parole and report the matter for final orders. The Court also clarified that parole is not suspension, remission or commutation of sentence, and where the governing rules do not require prior payment of fine, deposit of the fine cannot be treated as a condition precedent for considering a parole application.

---

---

Issues: (i) Whether the Rajasthan Prisoners Release on Parole Rules, 1958 apply to a convict sentenced for an offence under the NDPS Act or any other offence relating to a matter within the executive power of the Union; (ii) whether deposit of the fine imposed at the time of conviction is a condition precedent for consideration of a parole application.

Issue (i): Whether the Rajasthan Prisoners Release on Parole Rules, 1958 apply to a convict sentenced for an offence under the NDPS Act or any other offence relating to a matter within the executive power of the Union.

Analysis: Rule 1(c) of the Rajasthan Prisoners Release on Parole Rules, 1958 expressly excludes their application to persons undergoing imprisonment for offences relating to matters within the executive power of the Union. In such cases, the governing framework is the Central Government's 1955 rules issued under the notification dated 9 November 1955, under which parole may be considered by the State Government and reported to the Central Government for final orders. The Court also held that the earlier view treating the State parole rules as applicable to NDPS convicts could not be followed because it ignored the binding Central rules and was therefore per incuriam.

Conclusion: The Rajasthan Prisoners Release on Parole Rules, 1958 do not apply to NDPS convicts or other convicts sentenced for offences falling within the Union's executive power, and such cases are to be governed by the Central Government's 1955 rules.

Issue (ii): Whether deposit of the fine imposed at the time of conviction is a condition precedent for consideration of a parole application.

Analysis: Parole is not suspension, remission, or commutation of sentence, and the sentence continues to run during the parole period. Since the governing rules do not make prior payment of fine a prerequisite for entertaining a parole request, insisting on deposit of fine would add a condition not found in the applicable legal framework. The earlier view insisting on deposit of fine before parole consideration was held to be unsound and per incuriam.

Conclusion: Deposit of fine is not a condition precedent for consideration of a parole application.

Final Conclusion: The governing parole regime for NDPS and similar Union-list offences is the Central Government's 1955 framework, and parole applications cannot be rejected merely because the fine has not yet been paid.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the applicable parole rules do not prescribe prior payment of fine, parole cannot be made conditional on fine deposit; and where the offence falls within the executive power of the Union, the State parole rules stand excluded in favour of the Central rules.

---