Probation eligibility classification upheld where delegated rules validly exclude specified serious offenders from conditional release.

Rule 3(a) of the Madhya Pradesh Prisoner's Release on Probation Rules, 1964 was upheld as valid delegated legislation because the enabling Act expressly allowed the Government to define classes of offenders eligible for conditional release. The exclusion of prisoners convicted of specified serious offences, including Section 396 of the IPC, was treated as a permissible classification consistent with the reformative policy of the Act and not repugnant to Section 2. The rule did not destroy the statute's object; it merely limited eligibility within the rule-making power. The prior contrary view was overruled.

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Issues: Whether Rule 3(a) of the Madhya Pradesh Prisoner's Release on Probation Rules, 1964 was ultra vires Section 2 and Section 9(4) of the Madhya Pradesh Prisoner's Release on Probation Act 1954 by excluding prisoners convicted under specified offences, including Section 396 of the Indian Penal Code, from consideration for release on probation.

Analysis: The Act embodied a reformative policy under which release on probation was intended only for certain prisoners who, having regard to their antecedents and conduct in prison, were likely to abstain from crime and lead peaceable lives. Section 9(4) expressly empowered the Government to frame rules defining the classes of offenders who may be conditionally released and the periods of imprisonment after which they may be so released. Rule 3(a), by excluding prisoners convicted of specified serious offences, operated as a permissible classification of offenders within the rule-making power and did not destroy the object of the Act. The delegated legislation was therefore held to be consistent with the enabling statute and not repugnant to Section 2.

Conclusion: Rule 3(a) was valid and not ultra vires the Act; the prior view holding otherwise was overruled, and the State's appeal succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the enabling Act authorises classification of offenders for conditional release, a rule excluding specified serious categories of offenders from probation is valid delegated legislation and does not become ultra vires merely because it limits the field of eligibility under the statute.

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