Patna High Court (left) and Anand Mohan Singh (right)
Gangster-turned-politician Anand Mohan walked out of jail after a recent amendment made in Bihar’s Jail Manual. The new law exempts the “murder of a public servant on duty” clause from the list of cases for which remission of jail term cannot be considered.
As per the amendment of the Bihar Prison Manual 2012, convicts who have served 14 or 20 years in jail could now be released. On April 27, an advocate filed a plea at the Patna High Court calling this amendment “arbitrary and unreasonable”.
Alka Verma who filed the petition in the High Court on Wednesday told ANI “The amendment is not in good faith because it is arbitrary and its usefulness is not understandable. If we try to understand its use, it means that you have benefitted the criminals. The amendment should be for the people’s good. It is not for the good of the people. The government did not even consult the public servants. This is an arbitrary action. The amendment is arbitrary and unreasonable. I expect the inference of the court on this ground. I filed the plea yesterday,” she said.
Anand Mohan walked out of the Saharsa Jail on April 27 itself. With Anand as many as 27 other convicts walked out of the Jail.
Mohan was earlier on parole of 15 days to attend the engagement ceremony of his MLA son Chetan Anand. He had returned to Saharsa jail on April 26 following the end of his parole period.
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.
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.
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