Telangana HC Raps Authorities Over 40-Year Parole Lapse
Court questions jail authorities over parole monitoring lapses and orders stricter guidelines
Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court raised serious questions over the failure of authorities to track a life convict for more than four decades, highlighting lapses in monitoring prisoners released on parole.
The case involved Sandela Veeranna, 75, of Peddamupparam village, Mahabubabad district, convicted of murder in 1983 and sentenced to life. He served only six months and seven days before walking out on parole and never returning. For 40 years he lived freely, secured a government teaching job, won a Best Teacher Award in 2004, retired on superannuation and lived with his family until his arrest on May 16, 2024, by a Special Task Force that had been pursuing him since 2012.
Following his arrest, Veeranna’s wife petitioned the High Court challenging a jail memo that imposed forfeiture of remission and denial of parole and furlough for three years. She sought parole again on medical grounds.
Justice T. Madhavi Devi, while dismissing the petition, observed that the inability to track a prisoner for 40 years, during which he served in government service uninterrupted, reflected poorly on jail authorities. She said such lapses embolden others to overstay parole and evade law.
The court directed the state to frame guidelines and constitute special task forces to ensure effective monitoring of prisoners released on parole and to enforce their return on expiry of the permitted period.
