Patna: Taking exception to imprisonment of a
man for over 15 months in a case in which he was acquitted
eight years ago, the Bihar Human Rights Commission today
issued notice to the principal secretary (Home) to explain why
compensation should not be awarded.
Commission Chairman Justice (retd) S N Jha passed the
order on an application filed by Yugal Mochi, a resident of
Banauli village under Paliganj police station area in Patna
district.
Mochi alleged that he was re-arrested and imprisoned for
over 15 months from May 27, 2009 to August 30, 2010 in a
murder case of a fellow villager in which he was acquitted by
a lower court on July 10, 2003.
Jha rejected the district and session judge`s report
defending the arrest and imprisonment of the applicant on the
ground that he was a declared absconder in the charge sheet
filed by the prosecution.
Brushing aside the plea of the the district and session
judge that the applicant did not inform the court about his
acquittal in the case, Jha said it was difficult to accept as
Mochi would have disclosed the fact to the court if he had
been produced before the magistrate after his arrest on May
27, 2009.
"No person of even below average intelligence would
refrain from divulging this fact," he said.
He observed that Mochi`s arrest was totally unwarranted
and illegal as the permanent warrant of arrest against the
applicant was rendered infructuous after his acquittal on July
10, 2003 by a court.
Jha said that the commission could not give back the
period spend by the applicant in prison, but he could be
suitably compensated for deprivation of his right to liberty.
PTI
