Man Sentenced To Life Imprisonment Found Innocent After 20 Years; Allahabad High Court

GENERAL OVERVIEW

• 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.

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.
• 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.
• "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.

20 years of his life wasted away in prison. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE COURT'S CONDUCT IN 2000? WHAT DO YOU SAY ABOUT THIS RULING? LEAVE US A COMMENT BELOW WITH YOUR THOUGHTS!

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