New Delhi, September 8 (HS): The Supreme Court has strongly reprimanded the Madhya Pradesh government for unlawfully detaining a man in prison even after he had completed his sentence, and has directed it to pay ₹25 lakh in compensation. A bench headed by Justice J.B. Pardiwala expressed astonishment that the petitioner had remained behind bars for over four and a half years beyond his lawful term.

The court further instructed the Madhya Pradesh State Legal Services Authority to conduct a survey of all prisons in the state to determine whether any other inmates continue to remain in custody despite having completed their sentence or being granted bail.

The case pertained to Sohan Singh, who had been convicted of rape in 2004 by a trial court and sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2007, the Madhya Pradesh High Court reduced his punishment to seven years. However, despite the reduction, Singh was kept imprisoned and was only released in June this year.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar