Wrongfully Jailed For Years, Convict To Get Rs 25 Lakh as Supreme Court Raps State

The Supreme Court reprimanded Madhya Pradesh for illegally detaining a rape convict for 4.7 years beyond his 7-year sentence.

The convict was first sentenced to life imprisonment in 2004. In 2007, the MP High Court reduced the sentence to 7 years (Representative image: AI).

Source : ABPLIVE AI

The Supreme Court on Monday, September 8, pulled up the Madhya Pradesh government for keeping a rape convict in prison years beyond his actual sentence and ordered the state to pay him Rs 25 lakh in compensation.

According to legal news website Live Law, a bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice KV Viswanathan noted that the man had already completed his seven-year sentence but was forced to remain behind bars for nearly 4.7 additional years. The court called the lapse a serious violation of personal liberty and came down heavily on the state for its negligence.

The case took a dramatic turn earlier when the top court issued notice to the Madhya Pradesh government, observing that the convict had endured eight extra years in prison. Later, Senior Advocate Nachiketa Joshi, appearing for the state, clarified that the man had been out on bail for some time, Live Law reported. Based on updated records, the final period of unlawful incarceration was calculated at 4.7 years.

Advocate Mahfooz A Nazki, representing the convict, pressed for relief, following which the court ordered compensation. It also rebuked the state for filing what it described as "misleading" affidavits. Before closing the matter, the bench directed the Madhya Pradesh State Legal Services Authority to conduct a wider exercise to identify other prisoners who may have suffered a similar fate.

The convict’s legal ordeal stretches back two decades, the Live Law report described. The man was first convicted in 2004 by a Sessions Court in Madhya Pradesh under Sections 376(1), 450, and 560B of the IPC and sentenced to life imprisonment. A fine of Rs 2,000 was also imposed on him. In 2007, the Madhya Pradesh High Court partially allowed his appeal, reducing the sentence to seven years. Yet despite that reduction, he remained in prison until June 2025 — more than eight years beyond the lawful term.