Nitish Kumar, once portrayed as ‘Sushashan Babu’, in Bihar has now kneeled down to the wishes of the Yadav family and RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal). Looks like the strings to Nitish Kumar’s wishes are in the hands of a puppeteer (Tejashwi Yadav) as far as the matter of Gangster turned politician Anand Mohan is concerned.
As per a circular dated April 10, the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar Government removed the “murderer of a government servant on duty” category of prisoners by amending the Bihar Prisoner’s Manual, 2012. The amendment has specifically been made for the release of criminal-turned-politician Anand Mohan, as per the reports.
With this amendment, the murder of a government official or employee posted on the job will not be counted as grounds to deny the release of a convict after he or she has served his complete sentence.
In murmuring voices, political analysts have started calling the Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, a puppet to RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) under this new Mahagatbandhan.
Since, January there have been demands and sit-outs in support of Anand Mohan who is serving life imprisonment for killing an IAS officer on duty.
Who is Anand Mohan?
Anand Mohan Singh Tomar, founder of the now-defunct Bihar People’s Party is considered a close aid to the RJD supremo and especially the Lalu family.
He hails from the Saharsa district of Bihar and comes from the Rajput caste.
On December 5, 1994, Anand and his band of criminals attacked and murdered an IAS officer during the funeral of the dreaded gangster Chotan Shukla. Chotan was the brother of former Janata Dal (United) MLA Munna Shukla.
The IAS officer attacked and murdered by Mohan was Gopinath Krishnaiah, a Dalit.
Chotan Shukla who has many crimes in his name was allegedly killed in a police encounter. Anand Mohan, who was at Shukla’s funeral procession, attacked and killed the young IAS to avenge Shukla’s killing.
Anand Mohan and six others, including his wife Lovely Anand, were named as accused in the murder that sent shockwaves throughout the country. After the murder, these accused were convicted and Mohan was sentenced to death by Patna High Court in 2007.
Before the sentencing, Anand Mohan contested and won two successive Lok Sabha elections from Sheohar’s seat in 1996 from Samata Party and in 1998 on an RJD ticket.
However, the Supreme Court commuted his sentence to life imprisonment. He did apply for a reduction of the sentence but his plea was rejected in 2012.
Anand’s son, Chetan Anand is an RJD MLA. Mohan’s son also holds close ties with the RJD supremo and the Lalu family, especially Tejashvi Yadav and others.
After, Nitish Kumar left BJP to join hands with the RJD for Mahagatbandhan, the demands for the release of Anand Mohan intensified.
The RJD also asked its workers to greet Nitish Kumar with ‘release Anand Mohan’ slogans whenever he addressed public meetings.
In January this year, at a public rally in Patna, Nitish Kumar was greeted with Anand Mohan ko riha karo (release Anand Mohan) slogans. He assured the supporters of Anand Mohan that he is “working on it”.
What is keeping Anand Mohan in Jail?
In 2012, the Supreme Court of India sentenced Mohan of life imprisonment. Anand has already served his sentence (the duration of a life sentence is deemed to be 14 years), Anand Mohan could not be released due to a provision in Bihar’s Remission (Avoidance) Policy 0f 1994.
As per the policy, anyone convicted for more than one murder, rape, dacoity or causing the death of a public servant cannot be set free even after serving the whole sentence.
Due to this rule, Mohan could not walk out of the jail. Although he has been out on parole thrice in last six months.
Amendment in the policy
The RJD has been demanding the release of Anand Mohan for years now but with BJP, Nitish could not draft an amendment to the policy.
But this year, through a notification on April 10, the Kumar Government amended this policy. In a cabinet meeting, Rule 481 (i) (a) of the Bihar Prison Manual, 2012, was amended to remove the line in which the murder of a government official was included as an exception.
A copy of the notification was also sent to all district magistrates, Sps, Jail Superintendents, district prosecution officers, and the chief probation officer of Bihar.
Thus, Anand Mohan can walk out of prison now.
Kumar has been hesitant in bringing this amendment in place as, this will surely damage his ‘Sushashan Babu’ image. However, the top brass at the RJD made it very clear that they are not gonna take ‘no’ as the answer.
The reason that RJD is backing Mohan is that he comes from the Rajput caste and has a stronghold in his area. Rajputs make up four per cent of the electorate in Bihar. And no wonder RJD and for that matter Mahagatbandhan will be aiming to get it in their bags.
Return of Jungle Raj
On the amendment, the state BJP chief Samrat Choudhary said, “Nitish Kumar will have to capitulate more and accept the RJD’s diktats to free criminals and turn a blind eye to criminal acts by RJD functionaries. This will lead to his downfall”.
Also, former IPS officer Amitabh Kumar Das has written to the governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, seeking his immediate intervention. He called this amendment an insult to the Dalits.
“The state government has made an amendment in the prison rule to help a murderer. This act of the government has caused panic among public servants. Please make a personal intervention in the matter”, wrote Das.
Notably, the IAS Association of Bihar has also come under criticism for not raising their voices on the tweak in prison rules that will allow the convicted murderer of a young IAS officer to go free.
As of now the amendment is active and Anand Mohan is most likely to walk free.
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