In a first of its kind plea before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, a couple awarded a death sentence and life term has prayed for granting of conjugal rights within the prison so that they could give their family an heir. The couple has stated that the accused (husband) is the only son of his parents.
Jasvir Singh and Sonia had kidnapped a 16-year-old boy and killed him for a hefty ransom in Hoshiarpur in Punjab. They had committed the heinous crime within 8 months of their marriage.
At present lodged separately in Central Jail, Patiala, the 2 were first awarded death penalty by the trial court under Section 364 A, 201, 120-B, India Penal Code, which was confirmed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court here.
However, the Supreme Court while upholding death sentence for Jasvir Singh converted the death sentence of Sonia into life imprisonment.
Submitting the plea through their counsel Gursharn Kaur Mann they said it was for the sole purpose of getting progeny, preservation of cell and propagation of species, the two most essential parts of right to life. Justice K Kanan observed during the preliminary hearing that a very good point had been raised in the writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution.
The right to life, the counsel argued, was not confined to protecting yourself alone. Propagation of species was engrained in the right to life. Till the petitioners were living and 1 of them was not executed in line with the court orders, they had a right to life which included the right to propagate the species, of which sex life was a part of this right, it was further submitted by the counsel.
She also emphasized that in most advanced countries, the program of conjugal visitation had been implemented wherein the inmates and their spouses spent some personal time on prison premises, and may engage in sexual intercourse.
"Different countries like Brazil, Denmark, some states of the US, Canada, Australia, Russia, Britain allowed regulated conjugal rights which were running successfully," the counsel added.
It had also been prayed that a doctor could check Sonia every month and the day it was discovered that she had conceived, the petitioners may be separated.
Justice Kanan has now issued notices to the Punjab home secretary, state prisons' chief and the superintendent, Central Jail, Patiala for May 24, 2010, when the matter would be taken up again for further hearing in the light of the replies of the respondents, if available by then. The petition had been filed by Jasvir Singh and Sonia through former's father Jarnail Singh.
Source: Times of India, March 26, 2010
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