SC to hear petition against release of Anand Mohan next week
On December 5, 1994, Mohan instigated a mob that dragged Gopalganj district magistrate G Krishnaiah out of his official car and killed him, an investigation into the case revealed.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear on May 8 a petition challenging the Bihar government’s decision to prematurely release former MP Anand Mohan, who was serving life term for the murder of a young Dalit officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1994.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and comprising justice JB Pardiwala agreed to hear the petition filed by the wife of the deceased IAS officer G Krishnaiah, Uma Krishnaiah, next week.
The plea, filed on Saturday, was mentioned for urgent hearing by Uma’s counsel Tanya Shree on Monday.
On December 5, 1994, Mohan instigated a mob that dragged Gopalganj district magistrate G Krishnaiah out of his official car and killed him, an investigation into the case revealed. He was sentenced to death by a trial court in 2007. However, the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by the Patna high court a year later.
On April 10 this year, the Bihar government amended the Bihar Prison Manual, 2012, removing the “murder of a public servant on duty” clause from the list of cases for which remission of jail term cannot be considered, which helped Mohan, a Rajput leader with considerable influence on his caste voters.
On April 24, the Bihar law department issued a notification, saying that on the recommendation of the Bihar state sentence remission council, the “decision was taken for the release of prisoners having served actual sentence of 14 years or sentence of 20 years with remission.” It notified the release of 27 prisoners, including Mohan.
Mohan walked out of prison at 4am on April 27. His release had sparked a political row and led to sharp criticism from several quarters.
In her petition, the deceased IAS officer’s wife challenged the April 10 amendment in the prison manual that paved the way for Mohan’s release and also raised legal questions for consideration before the court.
The petitioner said that life sentences means the entire period of one’s life and the state cannot mechanically release any person at the end of 14 years.
She also cited several decisions of the top court, pointing out the state has to consider the remission of life convicts based on the policy that existed at the time of the conviction.
When Mohan was convicted in the case, the December 2002 remission policy was in force in Bihar. Under this, convicts punished for killing a public servant on duty were eligible for remission after undergoing 20 years of sentence, including remission.
The petition further cited past decisions of the top court requiring the state to consider the conduct of a prisoner, past criminal antecedents, socio-economic conditions, larger public good, propensity to commit future crimes, etc before grant of release.
Mohan’s release was purely on extraneous considerations, the petition said.
