NEW DELHI: Here is why people are increasingly getting frustrated by the absence of deterrent effect of law on criminals — the authorities ignored for four years a Supreme Court order directing immediate arrest of convicts, who were on bail, in a murder case to serve out the 10-year imprisonment sentence.
In a startling case, the Supreme Court in May 2008 dismissed the appeal of one Sambu Rai, who was accused in a murder case, and restored the trial court's August 4, 1989 order convicting him and seven other accused under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) to 10 years imprisonment.
Since September 11, 1989, that is for nearly 23 years, all the accused have been on bail since the Patna high court entertained their appeal. The HC decided the appeal on November 10, 2000. The Supreme Court took another eight years to dismiss their appeals and restore the trial court order.
Though the Supreme Court set aside the HC's lenient order and restored the stringent punishment recorded by the trial court 19 years ago, it had little effect on the convicts. A week after the June 17, 2008 judgment of the apex court, the registry sent out a letter to authorities concerned in Bihar directing that "this order be punctually observed and carried into execution by all concerned".
The Supreme Court's warning went unheeded, which allowed the convicts to roam free for four more years when they should have been serving out their 10-year sentence. The SC order was finally complied with on May 9, 2012, when the Motihari trial court issued arrest warrants against the eight convicts.
Three convicts — Sambu Rai, Jhulan Rai and Dila Rai — were arrested the same day the warrants were issued by the additional district judge. Another convict Bali Rai was arrested on May 24. Three others — Manak Rai, Ram Ikbal Rai and Gorakh Rai — had died by the time arrest warrants were issued and the last convict Parshuram Rai was physically handicapped and bed ridden.
This is not an isolated incident of criminals roaming free despite conviction. Another common feature of our criminal justice system is convicts remaining on bail during pendency of appeals, which remain pending for a long time as the appellate court's order summoning trial court records do not get complied with for years.
From Motihari alone, there are seven such instances where appeals have not been taken up for hearing for years, in one case for more than 20 years, as the trial court records have not reached the appellate court.
In the appeal filed by Muktar Mian against state of Bihar, the appellate court admitted his plea and requisitioned the trial court records to commence hearing on the appeal. After more than 20 years on November 21 this year, the appellate court said, "Appellant takes no step. Lower court records not received. Put up on February 21, 2013. Appellant and officer concerned to comply with the previous order."
Of the six other cases, one appeal is pending since August 1995, two each from 2004 and 2006 and another from 2010. In all these cases, the accused in all probability continue to enjoy freedom on bail and may continue to do so in the face of judicial lethargy.
In the Baithani Tola massacre, too, a similar trend is visible. The Supreme Court in July this year admitted the Bihar government's appeal challenging the Patna High Court order acquitting all the accused convicted of massacre of dalits in 1996. But the SC's order seeking trial court records is yet to be complied with.
An Ara trial court in 2010 had convicted 23 and sentenced three to death while awarding life sentence to the other 20 for the massacre of 21 landless poor, most of whom were women and children. But on April 16 this year, the HC overturned their conviction and acquitted the accused.
On July 16 this year, the SC did not accept Bihar government's plea for issuance of bailable warrants against the accused for taking them into custody during pendency of the appeal.
Supreme Court orders to jail convicts on bail ignored for 4 years
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Supreme Court orders to jail convicts on bail ignored for 4 years
