The Supreme Court has directed the State of Bihar to file a further affidavit within two weeks over the premature release of gangster-turned-politician Anand Mohan Singh, who was convicted for his role in the 1994 murder case of then Gopalganj District Magistrate G. Krishnaiah.
The Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Dipankar Dutta passed the orders on a petition filed by Umadevi, the widow of Krishnaiah, challenging the remission granted to former MP Anand Mohan by way of a recent amendment in the Bihar Prison Manual.
Representing the slain IAS officer’s wife, Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra, assisted by Advocate-on-Record Tanya Sree, urged the top court of the country to grant access to the official records pertaining to the remission granted to Mohan.
However, the Apex Court directed them to approach the Bihar government regarding access to the official records and listed the matter for further hearing on September 26.
Appearing for the state, Standing Counsel of Bihar, Advocate Manish Kumar contended that the records would only be submitted to the court for its perusal.
Senior Advocate Luthra questioned the secrecy surrounding the records, saying that he could not understand the state’s ‘belligerence’ in denying access to the records.
Kumar contended that there was no secrecy and that the petitioner could apply under the RTI Act for access to the same. He further said that these were departmental files with notings, which could only be submitted with the court.
The Bench then told the petitioner to apply under RTI.
Advocate Kumar sought permission from the Apex Court to file a further affidavit with additional information on the matter.
The Bench directed him to file an affidavit within two weeks and also acceded to the request of the petitioner to file a rejoinder one week thereafter.
Earlier on May 19, the Apex Court had directed the Bihar government to produce the original records regarding the remission granted to gangster-turned-politician and former MP Anand Mohan Singh.
A trial court had sentenced Anand Mohan to death in the case in 2007, but the Patna High Court commuted it to life imprisonment. The gangster-turned-politician was released after the Bihar government amended the rules of the Prison Manual and granted remission to several convicts.
(Case title: Telugu Umadevi Krishnaiah vs State of Bihar and Ors)