SC grants interim bail to man jailed for 35 years

The Supreme Court has allowed interim bail to a man who has been in jail for 35 years serving life term in a rape and murder case.

The top court further asked the Uttar Pradesh government to file a report stating in how many cases of rape and murder, the release of convicts was ordered, along with other details, including the age of the victims.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and K M Joseph passed its directions on a petition filed by Mahesh, whose plea for pre-mature release on remission has been rejected.

Mahesh, the convict is from Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh. He initially challenged the Allahabad HC order of January 22, 1997. The top court admitted his appeal filed after 7455 days delay, for consideration.

"The petitioner has been in actual custody for 35 years and with remission for about 45 years, we would grant interim bail to the petitioner," the bench said.

The court also ordered a psychological test of the convict before his release and sought a report from the state government in this regard. It put the matter for consideration after six weeks.

The court noted the convict was 28-years-old when he had committed the offence. He had been in jail for 35 years but due to the heinous nature of the crime, his plea for remission was rejected five times.

Notably, the Supreme Court, in ‘Union of India vs Sriharan’ (2015), had held that life imprisonment means imprisonment till the end of life, subject to statutory powers of remission under Section 432 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and constitutional powers under Articles 72 and 161.

The decisions by the state government on the pre-mature release of convicts have been questioned a number of times for being arbitrary, and for having been guided by political and other extraneous considerations.