7 Years Sentence, 11.5 Years Imprisonment: SC Orders 25 Lakh Compensation, Blasts Govt's Apathy

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): The Supreme Court on Monday took a very tough stand in a shocking case of keeping a man behind bars for more than four and a half years despite completing his sentence. Slamming the Madhya Pradesh government, the apex court not only ordered compensation of ₹25 lakh to the victim, but also termed the incident as a “systematic failure of the state” and a “gross violation of fundamental rights”.

This sensational case is of rape convict Sohan Singh, whose release was ordered by the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 2017 itself. The High Court had reduced his life imprisonment sentence to seven years. But, despite this order, Sohan Singh was not released from jail and he remained in prison for about 4.7 years more than his legal sentence.

A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Vishwanathan expressed deep surprise and displeasure while hearing the case. The bench said, "This is extremely shocking. In this way, keeping a person in prison for a longer period than his sentence is not acceptable in any case." The court also expressed dissatisfaction over the misleading affidavits filed earlier by the state government, which gave incorrect information about the period of additional imprisonment.

Taking cognizance of this serious lapse, the Supreme Court has issued a major direction to the Madhya Pradesh State Legal Services Authority. The authority has been ordered to conduct a comprehensive survey of all the jails in the state to find out if any other prisoner like Sohan Singh is lodged in jails despite completing his sentence or getting bail.

Considering the seriousness of the matter, the court had asked the state government to fix accountability in August itself. The court had asked, "We want to know how such a serious lapse occurred and why the petitioner remained in jail for additional time even after serving the full sentence of seven years?"

This matter came to light when Sohan Singh filed a petition in the Supreme Court regarding his being kept in jail despite the High Court's order for his release. This entire episode has raised serious questions on the functioning of the jail administration and the state government, and the question still remains as to who is responsible for this gross negligence?