# Allahabad HC: Governor’s power to grant premature release not arbitrary 2026-08-15T20:46:10+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets The Allahabad High Court has ruled that the Governor's power to grant premature release under Article 161 of the Constitution is a sovereign executive power, but it cannot be exercised arbitrarily as it remains regulated by the applicable Rules and remission policy. A bench of Justice JJ Munir and Justice Tarun Saxena quashed a June 26, 2025 order refusing premature release to Ram Pratap Singh, a convict sentenced to seven years' rigorous imprisonment for attempt to murder. The Court found the decision suffered from an 'error apparent on the face of record', as it incorrectly recorded the period of incarceration. The jail report showed Singh had served 4 years, 6 months and 6 days without remission, against a seven-year sentence, making him eligible under the Uttar Pradesh Prisoners' Release on Probation Rules, 1938. The rejection order had claimed he served only 2 years and 6 days without remission. The High Court remitted the matter to the state government for a fresh decision within one month from receipt of the order. The bench observed that even a constitutional power under Article 161 cannot be exercised arbitrarily or based on a manifest error, especially regarding the period of incarceration suffered by the convict. ## Coverage - livelaw.in - hindustantimes.com This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-17T18:45:52+00:00. Tags: Allahabad High Court, Article 161, Ram Pratap Singh, Uttar Pradesh Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/allahabad-hc-quashes-order-refusing-premature-release-to-convict/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/allahabad-hc-quashes-order-refusing-premature-release-to-convict/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/