The Supreme Court has pulled up the Madhya Pradesh government for keeping a rape convict in jail beyond his reduced seven-year term. The state has been asked to explain the lapse within two weeks.
New Delhi: On August 27, the Supreme Court of India asked the Madhya Pradesh government to give a proper explanation after it was revealed that a rape convict spent more than eight years in jail, even though his sentence was only seven years.
A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan directed the state government to file its reply within two weeks. The court expressed serious concern over the lapse and pointed out that the man had already served his full sentence before being released.
The convict had originally been tried by a sessions court in Khurai, District Sagar, Madhya Pradesh for rape and other offences under the Indian Penal Code.
The sessions court had earlier given him a life sentence and also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000. However, the man later appealed against this decision before the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
The High Court considered the appeal and partly allowed it by reducing the punishment. Instead of life imprisonment, the sentence was cut down to seven years of rigorous imprisonment.
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Taking note of this, the Supreme Court order dated August 22 clearly highlighted the troubling fact that the man was still kept in jail long after serving the reduced sentence. The bench observed:
“We would like to know how such a serious lapse occurred and why the petitioner remained in jail for more than eight years even after undergoing the entire sentence of seven years. We want the state to offer appropriate explanation in this regard.”
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The top court further said:
“The matter of concern is that although the High Court partly allowed the appeal by reducing the sentence of life imprisonment to seven years of rigorous imprisonment, the petitioner came to be released from jail only on June 6, 2025.”
The Supreme Court has now fixed September 8 as the next date of hearing in this case.
CASE TITLE:
SOHAN SINGH @ BABLU vs STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH
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