Mumbai, September 01: Bombay High Court today compensated a man admitting that he had to spend seven years in jail despite he was acquitted in a rape and murder case.
Saying that Bapu Mali (40) had to spend seven years in the prison even after his acquittal due to the lapse committed by sessions court, division bench of Justice Bilal Nazki and A R Joshi awarded him the compensation of Rs one lakh.
In future, the court said, if the norms laid down by High Court in such cases were not followed, the lower court judges would face action for contempt of court.
Mali was arrested for allegedly raping and murdering a 5-year-old girl at Aaghat village in Malegaon, Nashik on March 1999. But the prosecution case fell through in the sessions court, which observed that there was no witness, barring one who had only hearsay knowledge of the incident.
He was acquitted in June 2002, but state filed an appeal in High Court. As per the criminal procedure code, High Court issued a warrant for his re-arrest.
In such cases, person is rearrested, and produced before sessions court. Sessions court releases him on bail, on the condition that he would appear before the court whenever required. But Mali did not get bail, because he could not produce sureties. .
—Agencies