Is it permissible, Islamically, for a judge to make a prisoner's release contingent upon his father's approval, and are there similar cases in Sharia?

The issues and rulings decided by the judge are not within our purview, and an appeal should be directed to a higher judicial authority. We have previously explained the sayings of the scholars regarding discretionary punishment (ta'zeer), and that some of them believe its determination is left to the discretion of the ruler (wali al-amr) according to what serves the public interest and is proportionate to the crime. We also mentioned severe cases of discretionary punishment in previous eras. There is no doubt that the assault mentioned in the question is one of the worst and most dangerous types of assault.