Digital Goa, September 2 – High Court has set aside the State Sentence Review Board’s (SRB) decision that rejected the plea for premature release of life convict Nafiyaj Shaikh Mamlekar, one of the four men serving life imprisonment for kidnapping and killing their teenage friend Mandar Surlakar in 2006. Mamlekar, convicted in 2014 by the Children’s Court, has spent nearly 19 years in prison including remission. He petitioned for release citing good conduct, academic progress, and participation in reform programmes. While the District Magistrate and Jail Superintendent had recommended his release, the SRB rejected his plea citing the gravity of the crime. HC held that the Board failed to apply the parameters under Rule 403 of the Goa Prisons Rules, 2006, and focused only on the seriousness of the offence. The Bench directed the SRB to reconsider Mamlekar’s case at its next meeting, taking into account Supreme Court guidelines on premature release of life convicts.
