SC to hear on Monday plea challenging remission granted to ex-MP Anand Mohan

New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea challenging the remission granted to former Lok Sabha MP Anand Mohan, who was serving a life term in the 1994 murder case of the then Gopalganj district magistrate G Krishnaiah.

A bench of justices Surya Kant and K V Viswanathan is slated to hear the plea filed by Uma Krishnaiah, the wife of the slain officer.

Mohan was released from Bihar's Saharsa jail in April last year, after serving more than 14 years in prison, following an April 10, 2023 amendment to the Bihar Prison Manual by the state government whereby the restriction on early release of those involved in the killing of a public servant on duty was done away with.

Critics claim the government amended the Bihar Prison Manual to facilitate the release of Mohan, a Rajput strongman.

Mohan was awarded the death penalty on October 5, 2007 by the trial court which was commuted to rigorous life imprisonment by the Patna High Court on December 10, 2008 and confirmed by the Supreme Court on July 10, 2012.

Krishnaiah, who hailed from Telangana, was beaten to death by a mob in 1994 when his vehicle tried to overtake the funeral procession of gangster Chhotan Shukla in Muzaffarpur district.

Mohan, then an MLA, was leading the procession and was alleged to have instigated the mob to kill Krishnaiah.

While hearing the plea against Mohan's remission on February 6, the apex court had asked the former MP to deposit his passport and record his presence at the local police station every fortnight.

On August 11 last year, the top court had asked the Bihar government as to how many of the convicts, granted remission along with Mohan, were held guilty of murdering public servants on duty.

The Bihar government had informed the court that a total of 97 convicts, including Mohan, were prematurely released at the same time.

The petitioner has contended the life imprisonment awarded to Mohan meant incarceration for his entire natural life and it cannot be mechanically interpreted to last just 14 years.

"Life imprisonment, when awarded as a substitute for death penalty, has to be carried out strictly as directed by the court and would be beyond application of remission," Krishnaiah's wife has said in her petition.