Bengaluru, May 20 -- The Karnataka High Court has observed that the duration of imprisonment alone cannot make a convict eligible for parole and dismissed a petition filed by a habitual offender seeking temporary release from prison.

The order was passed by a single-judge bench of Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum while hearing a plea filed by convict Ambarish S. Kapadia, who had sought parole on the grounds that he had spent nearly 14 years in jail.

Kapadia, who was transferred from a Mumbai prison to Bengaluru, argued that he had already undergone long years of imprisonment and therefore deserved to be released on parole. However, the High Court rejected the contention, stating that the petitioner had been convicted in six criminal cases...