'I have faith in judiciary' - slain IAS officer's wife on SC hearing of Anand Mohan release

"I will definitely get justice," said Uma Devi, wife of slain Telugu Dalit IAS Officer G Krishnaiah ahead of the May 8 hearing of her petition against the 'premature' release of life convict Anand Mohan Singh in the Supreme Court.

Patna/Hyderabad: The Supreme Court will hear on May 8 the petition filed by the wife of slain IAS officer G Krishnaiah against the release of Bihar's gangster-turned-politician Anand Mohan Singh. Ahead of this hearing, Uma Devi, wife of late Krishnaiah, has said, 'I will definitely get justice'. On April 27, the Bihar government released Anand Mohan, who was serving a life sentence in Bihar's Saharsa Jail.

Anand Mohan was convicted of killing Telugu Dalit IAS officer G Krishnaiah, whose wife has now moved the Supreme Court against the release of Anand Mohan. "This is a good sign. Permission has been given to fight the case in the Supreme Court. I have faith in the judiciary. I will definitely get justice," said Uma Devi.

Uma Devi's petition has raised the question that when Anand Mohan was sentenced to life imprisonment, how he could be released prematurely. The petition states that as per the Bihar Jail Rules (2012) 481(1)(c), there is a provision that the convicts whose death sentence has been commuted to life imprisonment, shall be sentenced to 20 years.

As per the rules, Anand Mohan shall have to complete the sentence and thereafter shall be entitled to remission. But this did not happen. He (Anand Mohan) was sentenced to death by the trial court on October 5, 2007. Later, the sentence was changed to life imprisonment by the Patna High Court. Convicted Anand Mohan remained in jail for 14 years, he did not complete the sentence of 20 years. In this case, he is not entitled to exemption under Bihar Jail Rules (2012) 481(1)(c).

Is the release of Anand Mohan right?

In this case, Prabhat Bhardwaj, a senior advocate of Patna High Court, says that the legal side of the Bihar government is strong.Although the petitioner has approached the Supreme Court, it has to be seen what will be its outcome. He just said that the order of the Supreme Court is paramount.

“The process of releasing Anand Mohan started in 2021. When asked for his opinion, the then SP had given it to the government in writing that his release would not make any difference to society. A similar order came from the Saharsa court as well. But now the Supreme Court may issue an order by looking at the impact of Anand Mohan's release on the society," senior Advocate, Patna High Court.

On 5 December 1994, the then DM of Gopalganj G Krishnaiah was murdered. It is said that Krishnaiah was passing through Muzaffarpur. On that day a huge crowd had gathered for the funeral procession of a gangster and during this time Krishnaiah, who was passing by, was beaten to death by the crowd. He was also shot. In this case, Anand Mohan was convicted of instigating the crowd.