In a case of glaring miscarriage of justice akin to one depicted in Amitabh Bachachan starrer Hindi movie of the eighties Andha Kanoon, the dismayed and shocked Supreme Court on Friday ordered immediate release of three members of a family from Agra jail convicted for life for the murder of a man walking alive in the streets of Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh. The convicts — Rameshwar, who was a juvenile at the time of registering of the case in August 2000, his father Mohan and uncle Dal Chand — had been languishing in Agra jail ever since their arrest and subsequent conviction for the murder of Bhagwan Das, who in fact was found working in a shop at Jhansi grain market.
Counsel for the trio, Manohr Singh Bakshi told a bench of Justices R.M. Lodha and H.L. Gokhale that when Bhagwan Das came to know after some years that the police had got the conviction of these persons by a trial court in Jhansi for his murder, he approached the police station at Mauranipur where the FIR was registered stating that he was very much alive.
As the counsel pleaded for a compensation of `50 lakhs from the UP government to the three for their “false implication” by the police and suffering incarceration for over 10 years now, the bench said, “They would get justice as the Supreme Court is meant for this purpose (that no injustice is done to any one).”
Describing the incident as “shocking” the top court while ordering their release on bail at the moment also sought a status report form the UP government on the whole issue within four weeks.
Elaborating the sordid episode, Mr Bakshi submitted that in fact Bhagwan Das’ sons had “enacted” the murder case of their father in order to get hold of his land and other properties and named Rameshwar, Mohan and Dal Chand as accused in “connivance” with the police.
Bhagwan Das was employed in Jhansi grain market and was not aware of the gameplan.