Anand Mohan's Premature Release : Supreme Court Directs Bihar Govt To Produce Original Records Relating To Remission

The Supreme Court, on Friday, directed the Bihar Government to produce original records of documents which led to the granting remission to former Bihar MP Anand Mohan, convicted in the case for the mob lynching of Gopalganj District Magistrate G Krishnaiah in 1994.

“State Counsel is directed to produce original records which led to the grant of remission to Respondnet No. 4 (Anand Mohan)…”

While hearing the petition filed by Uma Krishnaiah, the widow of District Magistrate G Krishnaiah challenging Bihar Government’s decision to grant Anand Mohan premature release, a Bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice JB Pardiwala granted time to the State Government, Bihar State Sentence Remission Board and Anand Mohan to file their counter affidavits. It clarified that no further opportunity will be provided to them to file responses. The matter will be listed next on 8th August, 2023.

In 1994, Krishnaiah was killed in an attack by a mob led by Mohan. Mohan was sentenced to life imprisonment for the offence. However, he walked out of jail on April 24 after serving 14 years of imprisonment in view of the remission of sentence granted by the Bihar Government.

The Apex Court issued notice to the Bihar Government on 8th May, 2023. On Friday, when the Bench was apprised that there was an intervention application in the matter, it granted permission to the Counsel to assist the Court. But requested the intervenors not to politicise the matter.

“We will request, don’t politicise. We are examining legal issues. You can assist the Court.”

As per the remission policy of the State of Bihar, persons who are convicted for murder of public servants on duty were not eligible for premature release until they have completed at least 20 years of sentence. However, this bar was taken away by the State Government by amending the remission policy in April, paving the way for the release of Anand Mohan. Uma Krishaniah has challenged the circular issued by the Bihar Home Department (Prisons) on April 10 amending Rule 481(1)(a) of the Bihar Prison Manual, 2012, as per which persons convicted for “murder of a public servant on duty” are also eligible for remission. She has also challenged the premature release of Anand Mohan.

Terming the decision of the State Government was taken on the basis of "extraneous considerations", the petitioner argues that the relevant factors such as conduct of the prisoner in the jail, past criminal antecedents have been ignored. It is further argued that the amendment of the state remission policy to facilitate Mohan's release is contrary to public policy and would amount to demoralising public servants. It is argued that the policy which was prevalent at the time of the offence should be applied.

The petitioner was represented by Senior Advocate, Sidharth Luthra, AOR Tanya Shree and Advocate Ritu Raj.

[Case Title: Telugu Umadevi Krishnaiah v. State of Bihar And Ors. WP(Crl) No. 204/2023]

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