TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: A man who was reported to have been murdered walked back to his village in Uttar Pradesh but not before three persons accused of killing him had spent 10 years in prison after being convicted under Section 302 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court: an order that was upheld by the Allahabad High Court.
The shocking case, highlighting the inadequacies of the system of judicial administration, was narrated on Friday to the Supreme Court, leading a bench of Justices R M Lodha and H L Gokhale to immediately order release of the three “murderers” on bail.
Raising the plight of the trio, amicus curiae Manohar Singh Bakshi said the Mauranipur police in Jhansi district had registered a case under Section 302 against juvenile Rameshwar, his father Mohan and uncle Dal Chand on August 2, 2000, for the alleged murder of one Bhagwan Dass.
During the trial, the accused persons’ repeated plea that they were falsely implicated in the case fell on deaf ears. But it was revealed that an influential person in the village wanted to kill two birds with one stone and devised this ingenious method to implicate Rameshwar’s family in the murder of Bhagwan Dass, who fled the village to Himachal Pradesh to work in the shop of a grain merchant. The influential person allegedly took over the land owned by both families.
A Jhansi sessions court on February 10, 2003, convicted Rameshwar, his father and uncle allegedly ignoring Rameshwar’s plea that he was a juvenile at the time of the alleged crime. The HC dismissed their appeals on October 26, 2009, confirming the life sentence awarded to them.
In December last year, Bhagwan Dass made a dramatic appearance and gave a statement before the police, public and press. Bakshi told the court that it was a travesty of justice that innocent persons were convicted and made to undergo imprisonment for over nine-and-a-half years.
The three have also moved an application before the Supreme Court seeking Rs 50 lakh compensation each from the state for frivolous prosecution because of which they suffered imprisonment in a concocted case.
DEAD MAN WALKING Aug 2, 2000 | Case registered against Rameshwar, his father Mohan and uncle Dal Chand for alleged murder of Bhagwan Dass
Feb 10, ’03 | Jhansi sessions court convicts all 3,
gives them life terms
Oct 26, ’09 | Allahabad HC dismisses their appeals, confirms life sentence
Dec ’10 | Bhagwan Dass re-appears, says he had been working in Himachal Pradesh all along. An influential person in the village had allegedly taken over land owned by both families
Nov 4, ’11 | Case narrated to SC, prompting bench to order immediate release on bail of the trio
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