SC Refuses To Entertain Parole Plea Of Convict Swami Shraddhanand

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain parole application of Murali Manohar Mishra aka Swami Shraddhanand sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife Shakereh Khaleeli, the granddaughter of the former Diwan of Mysore.

A bench of Justice KM Joseph, Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah allowed him to withdraw the plea with liberty to proceed to the appropriate forum for other remedies, if any.

The order was issued in response to multiple applications filed by Shraddhanand, a self-proclaimed godman who has been imprisoned for the past 30 years.

Shraddhanand made three requests: interim medical bail, parole, and a stay on the streaming of the new crime docuseries “Dancing on the Grave” on Amazon Prime.

The murder of Khaleeli, who was then married to Shraddhanand, is depicted in the web series along with its circumstances and history.

At their Bengaluru home, Shraddhanand was found guilty of burying her alive.

The series, it was argued, prejudices his current request for remission before the Apex court.

Advocate Shubhranshu Padhi, who represent the State government, made the observation that the petitioner’s initial request for temporary release to visit his ailing brother was filed in 2010, and that the relative has since passed away.

It was also emphasized that the petitioner had not produced the parole rules of Karnataka or Madhya Pradesh (where he is currently imprisoned) or challenged the governor’s denial of his request for mercy.

After hearing from the parties, the bench rejected the argument. Additionally, it stated orally that it would not hear the remission argument at this time, since earlier orders of the top court had expressly ordered against the same.