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Bhola Kumhar vs. State of Chhattisgarh

Criminal Appeal · 2022 INSC 535Decided 9 May 2022
Criminal Appeal No. 937 of 2022
Ajay Rastogi · C.T. Ravikumar

Background

The appellant was convicted under Section 376 IPC (rape) and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and the High Court, while confirming the conviction, reduced his sentence from 12 to 7 years. Although he had already served his full sentence, jail authorities failed to release him on time; only after the Supreme Court took up his limited appeal on this point and issued notice did the jail authorities release him, well after he had completed the legally permissible period of custody. The State's affidavit tried to justify the delay by treating a separate one-year default sentence for non-payment of court-ordered compensation as add-on time.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court found, on a careful reading of the jail's own custody certificate and remission records, that the appellant had in fact been kept in custody well beyond what the High Court's judgment permitted, and that the State's justification did not hold up. It held that detaining a convict beyond the period sanctioned by the final appellate judgment violates the freedom of movement under Article 19(1)(d) and the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution. Exercising its extraordinary powers under Article 136 read with Article 142, the Court awarded the appellant Rs. 7.5 lakh in compensation, to be paid by the State (which was left free to recover the amount from the responsible officials).

Lesson Learnt

No one, however serious their offence, can lawfully be kept in prison beyond the sentence actually fixed by the courts; illegal over-detention is a violation of fundamental rights for which the State is liable to pay compensation.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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