The Orissa High Court (HC) has directed the state government to pay a compensation of Rs 8 lakh to a poor tribal man who had been illegally detained in a state prison for eight long years.
This, even after his acquittal in a murder case. Pratap Nayak of Ghimuani village was forced to languish in jail for a long period due to the negligence and carelessness of a clerk at a lower court.
In February, 1989, Pratap was arrested by the police in connection with a murder case.
In December, 1989, a local court convicted him and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
He challenged the verdict in the HC which granted him bail in 1991. But he could not come out of the prison as he failed to furnish the bail bond. Finally, he was acquitted in the case by the  HC in October, 1994.
However, it was only after eight years and two months, the court clerk’s mistake was rectified and Pratap was released on January 22, 2003. By that time he had already developed mental disorder.
Pratap’s plight was taken up by Prabir Das who moved the HC demanding a compensation of Rs 10 lakh from the government.