Releasing First-Time Offenders on Probation Can Prevent Jail Stigma, Relief Can Be Granted in Minor Offences: Punjab & Haryana High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently ruled on the release of a first-time convict involved in a 2016 case registered under Sections 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code, read with Section 149. The convict had been sentenced in 2019 to rigorous imprisonment for a maximum of one year. The Court directed his release on probation under the Probation…