Allahabad High Court Declared Man Innocent In A Rape Case After 20 Years, Relieved Him From Life Imprisonment

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• This judgement is in relation to the case: Vishnu Tiwari v. State of Uttar Pradesh.
• Vishu Tiwari was arrested on the charges of rape and atrocities, in the year 2000, and sentenced to life imprisonment under the SC/ST Act.
• As a victim of false accusation, he was released from his wrongful imprisonment on Wednesday. 
• Mr. Tiwari was always mild mannered, and cooked good food for his inmates. 
• In January 2021, he was acquitted by a division bench of justices Kaushal Jayendra Thaker and Gautam Chaudhary. 
• The Court is "pained" to see the State not exercise its power to commute sentences, even after 14 years of incarceration, reprimands by bringing up sections of CrPC.

INTRODUCTION

After spending twenty (20) years in prison, Vishnu Tiwari was declared innocent by the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday. Without access to better lawyers, Tiwari could only state that he didn't commit the crime, and that he was innocent time and time again. In the twenty years he spent in the prison, he reportedly lost his family members. Tiwari was shifted to Agra Central Jail in 2003. Locals and government officials reached out to him to offer their help in his time of need.

BACKGROUND

Vishnu resided in Uttar Pradesh's village named Lalitpur with his father and two brothers. In order to help his family, he had dropped out of school to take up odd jobs that came his way. He was 23 at the time. In September 2000, a woman who stayed in another village accused him of sexually violating her, and he was booked under rape and atrocities of an SC woman, under Indian Penal Code (IPC) and SC/ST Act. The trial court sentenced him to a life imprisonment, as under the SC/ST (prevention of atrocities) Act. He was always known to be a mild mannered person, attached to his family- and a good cook to his fellow inmates. “Besides cooking for inmates, he would also oversee cleanup inside the jail. His conduct was always good,” said VK Singh, Senior Superintendent of Agra Central Jail. Not having the resources for better lawyers, he tried and tried to plead not guilty, for he did not commit any such crime, but in vain. He appealed against his verdict in Allahabad High Court, but his appeal was rejected. About a few years ago, Vishnu figured of his father's demise, when he suddenly stopped visiting his son. He couldn't attend his father's funeral, nor could he attend his brother's funeral. 

WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW?

In January this year, he was acquitted by a division bench of justices Kaushal Jayendra Thaker and Gautam Chaudhary, after prison authorities approached State legal services authority, to appeal in the High Court in the year 2020. “In view of the facts and evidence on record, we are convinced that the accused had been convicted wrongly, hence, the trial court’s judgment and the impugned order has been reversed and the accused is acquitted,” the high court's order observed, after noticing that the FIR was filed by the alleged victim's father in law and husband, and that there were no injuries on her, or her private parts when the woman is said to have been thrashed. "The medical evidence should show some semblance of forcible intercourse, even if we go as per the version of the prosecutrix - that the accused had gagged her mouth for ten minutes and had thrashed her on ground. There would have been some injuries to a fully-grown lady." The Court stated- "factual data also goes to show that there are several contradictions in the examination-in-chief, as well as cross-examination of all three witnesses."
Allahabad High Court, by bringing up relevant sections of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), also reprimanded the State for not exercising its power to commute Mr. Tiwari's sentence of life imprisonment, even after 14 years of prison confinement, and good conduct within the prison. The Court stressed- "The factual scenario in the present case would show that had the Government thought of taking up the case of the accused, as per the jail manual, it would have been found that the case was not so grave that it could not have been considered for remission/commutation."
"I have been in jail for 20 years. What should I look forward to? My body is broken and so is my family. I only have a younger brother. I am not married. Look at my hands, there are blisters from working in the jail kitchen," stated Mr Tiwari to NDTV in an interview. He added that he only has ₹600 which was given to him before he left, by the jail administration. Mr. Tiwari intends to start a fresh life, by opening a dhaba in his village.

CONCLUSION

False accusations are usually groundless allegations or unsupported claims against another person. Accusing someone falsely for one's own gain, without consideration of the actual victim is wrongful, and such an action should be made strictly punishable. The woman's husband and father in law filed a case against Vishnu, for a petty reason like land disputes. Vishnu Tiwari in turn, lost 20 years of his life, while fighting against the unruly and lacking justice system that did not bother to look more into the case, nor did it do the right thing by Vishnu, when it did not exercise its power in commuting his sentence. As citizens of the country, we expect the judicial system to protect our rights and make us feel safe, but slowly, we see right in front of our eyes how the cases are being decided and how it has been disappointing the actual victims of the case. We hope to see more good results such as in the case of Vishnu Tiwari take place much quicker than what took place for this. We also hope to see the State exercise its powers rightfully at the relevant time.