Juvenile at time of crime: SC frees man after 25 yrs-OxBig News Network

Having spent 25 years in jail in a murder case, an Uttarakhand man finally got justice on Wednesday from the Supreme Court which freed him after it found that he was a juvenile at the time of the crime in 1994.

“At every stage, injustice has been inflicted by courts, either by ignoring the documents or by casting a furtive glance,” a Bench of Justice MM Sundresh and Justice Aravind Kumar said, setting free Om Prakash. “The appellant shall be released forthwith, if not required in any other case,” it said.

Interestingly, Prakash got justice in the second round of litigation. In the first round, he was convicted by the trial court and awarded the death penalty, rejecting his plea of juvenility on the ground that he had a bank account. The order was upheld by the high court and the Supreme Court also dismissed his appeal, review petition and curative petition.

However, on a mercy petition filed by him, the President commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment in 2012 with a condition that he should not be released until he attained the age of 60 years.

However, Prakash didn’t lose hope. He got an ossification test done and a medical certificate was issued to him that he was 14 at the time of the crime. He also obtained information under the RTI Act that it was permissible for a minor to open a bank account.

On the basis of these documents, he again moved the Uttarakhand High Court in 2019 challenging the President’s rejection of his mercy petition. He approached the Supreme Court after the high court dismissed his petition.

“We would only state that this is a case where the appellant has been suffering due to the error committed by the courts. We have been informed that his conduct in the prison is normal, with no adverse report. He lost an opportunity to reintegrate into society. The time which he has lost, for no fault of his, can never be restored,” the SC said, allowing his appeal.

While maintaining his conviction, the top court said, “We are inclined to set aside the sentence imposed in excess of the upper limit prescribed under the relevant (Juvenile Justice) Act.”

It appreciated the fact that despite being illiterate, Prakash kept on raising the plea of juvenility right from the trial court up to the conclusion of hearing on the curative petition before the top court.

The Bench clarified that it was not a review of the presidential order but a case of giving benefit of provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act to a deserving person.

“From the custody certificate filed on record, it appears that the appellant has undergone imprisonment for almost 25 years,” it noted.

Had murdered Brigadier, 2 kin

Om Prakash, who had several aliases, was a domestic help. He had killed 62-year-old Brig Shyam Lal Khanna (retd), his sister-in-law Bishna Mathur (67) and son Sarit Khanna (27) on November 15, 1994, in Dehradun with a ‘khukhri’ and a sword. Prakash was arrested from West Bengal in 1999. Another accused Nitesh was acquitted by the trial court.