SC acquits man after 22 years in jail, raps Delhi high court for nixing delayed appeal | India News
NEW DELHI: This is how justice is denied when courts go by the letter of the law and not by its spirit. A poor murder convict, abandoned by his family and not given proper legal advice, challenged the trial court’s order of conviction and life imprisonment after nine years of delay in the Orissa High Court which refused to decide his plea on merits and dismissed it for delay. The accused had to spend another 10 years in jail before the SC came to his rescue.Terming the High Court order passed in 2016 as “very disturbing”, a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Ujjal Bhuiyan invoked the extraordinary powers given to the SC to complete justice under Article 142 and ordered the release of the convict as his conduct in jail was satisfactory and he had not even served 2 years of jail.“The High Court, while rejecting the delay, should have considered the fact that the petitioner was already serving a sentence of 12 years. The High Court should also have considered that it was an appeal through jail. That itself was enough for the High Court to take a realistic view or rather a sympathetic view and at least allow one to plead. Arguing in his criminal appeal on merits, the petitioner has served a sentence of about 22 years,” The bench said.The court held that the petitioner had never been released on parole or furlough and condoning the delay in such circumstances and asking the High Court now to hear the criminal appeal on merits would be a futile exercise.“We are convinced that in the peculiar facts and circumstances of this case we should grant bail to the petitioner. Thus, in exercise of our jurisdiction under Article 142 of the Constitution as an exceptional case, we order that the petitioner be granted bail on execution of a personal bond of Rs 10,000,” said the Super Collector of Bail.The bench directed the District Legal Services Authority, Koraput to assist in making suitable representation for remission of sentence.
