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Supreme Court corrects its mistake

J. Venkatesan

New Delhi: Correcting its mistake, the Supreme Court has directed the release forthwith of three of the four persons wrongly convicted in a Madhya Pradesh murder case and sent to jail.

In November 2008, the court sent four persons to jail without hearing them. In March this year, on a curative petition, it committed another mistake, wrongly releasing the four co-accused who were convicted after having been heard in appeals.

After the media highlighted the mistakes, a Bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices S.H. Kapadia, Altamas Kabir and R.V. Raveendran ordered the release of Bhoja, Puran and Balbir, confined in the Datia sub-jail, if they were not required in any other case. As for the other person, Raghubir, against whom a warrant was pending but was not re-arrested, the Bench said: “No further order is required as he was not re-arrested and taken into custody after the [November, 2008] judgment of this court was passed. Warrant, if any, issued against Raghubir will stand cancelled.”

Initially, the Shivpuri sessions judge awarded life imprisonment to Sughar Singh, Laxman, Onkar, Ramesh, Bhoja, Raghubir, Puran and Balbir.

On their appeals, the Madhya Pradesh High Court set aside the verdict and acquitted all of them.

The aggrieved State filed in the Supreme Court an appeal which was, however, confined to the first four persons, and the others were not impleaded as respondents. While allowing the appeal, the court reversed the order of acquittal and held the four respondents guilty and awarded them six-year imprisonment. Those against whom any appeal was not filed were also convicted and sentenced to six-year imprisonment. While three of the four were arrested, Raghubir was not re-arrested.

Curative petitions sought immediate release of those arrested wrongly. When the matter was brought to the notice of the court during ‘mention' time on Tuesday before a Bench headed by Justice Balakrishnan, the CJI said it would be listed for the first week of May.

But the matter was heard on Wednesday evening itself and the release order passed.

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