HARPREET SINGH vs STATE (GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI)

Judgment text excerpt

* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI % Reserved on: 22nd July, 2025 Pronounced on: 30th January, 2026 + W.P. (CRL.) 463/2025 HARPREET SINGH S/o Sh. Amrik Singh, Residing at VPO Padri Kalan, P.O. Chabhel, District-Taran Taaran, Punjab .....Petitioner Through: Mr. Sumer Singh Boparai, Mr. Sirhaan Seth, Mr. Surya Pratap Singh, Mr. Abhilash Kumar Pathak and Mr. Piyush Kumar, Advocate. versus STATE (GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI) Through Home Secretary Delhi Secretariat, Sachivalaya Road, Indoor Stadium, Delhi-110001 .....Respondent Through: Mr. Amol Sinha, ASC with Mr. Kshitiz Garg, Mr. Ashvini Kumar and Mr. Nitish Dhawan, Advs. And SI Manoj Kumar, PS: Chanakyapuri CORAM: HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE NEENA BANSAL KRISHNA JUDGMENT Signature Not Verified Signed By:VIKAS W.P. (Crl.)No. 463/2025 Page 1 of 59 ARORA Signing Date:03.02.2026 16:59:50 सदा ऐश दौरााँ ददखाता नह ीं गया वक़्त दिर हाथ आता नह ीं - म र ग़ुलाम हसन 1. This timeless couplet by Mir Hasan serves as a poignant reminder that the passage of time is relentless and that moments once lost, do not return. In the realm of criminal justice, this truth acquires profound significance, because prolonged incarceration without a meaningful reassessment of reform, turns punishment into retribution. For the Petitioner, the time became static since 2003 when he, a Guard in the President House, was put in jail for most heinous and depraved crime of Rape and Robbery committed on a young girl. No amount of remorse and reformation over this long period has proven to be of any worth, as his Remission has been consistently rejected twelve times, since 2016. 2. The present Petition compels this Court to examine whether earning Commendations and Certificates in more than two decades of incarceration of the Petitioner, reflects a reformation that und