Plea filed in Patna HC against Bihar Prison Manual's amendment, petitioner says govt's action "arbitrary"

The amendment of Bihar Prison Manual 2012, according to which the convicts who have served 14 or 20 years in jail could now be released, is "arbitrary and unreasonable", an advocate who filed a plea in the Patna High Court against the government's move said on Thursday.

The amendment of Bihar Prison Manual 2012, according to which the convicts who have served 14 or 20 years in jail could now be released, is "arbitrary and unreasonable", an advocate who filed a plea in the Patna High Court against the government's move said on Thursday. Alka Verma who filed the petition in the High Court on Wednesday told ANI that the amendment is not for the people's good and the court is expected to interfere on this ground.

"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," Verma said. The advocate's remarks came after gangster-turned-politician Anand Mohan Singh walked free from Bihar's Saharsa jail early Thursday morning, a move which was mandated following the amendment of the prison rules by the Bihar government allowing the release of 27 convicts including him.

The gangster-turned-politician 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. Earlier on Wednesday, the state prisons department had released nearly 14 convicts from various jails of the state.

Singh was among eight others who could not be released yesterday. There has been a backlash regarding the former MP's release from jail by the opposition in the state.

Anand Mohan murdered Gopalganj District Magistrate G Krishnaiah on December 5, 1994, in Muzaffarpur. Krishnaiah was killed by a mob allegedly provoked by Anand Mohan Singh. He was dragged out of his official car and lynched. G Krishnaiah, a 1985-batch IAS officer who hailed from Mahbubnagar in present-day Telangana.

Anand Mohan was sentenced to death by a trial court in 2007. A year later, the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by the Patna High Court. Mohan then challenged the verdict in Supreme Court but no relief has been granted yet and he has remained in Saharsa jail since 2007. His wife Lovely Anand has also been a Lok Sabha MP, while their son Chetan Anand is an RJD MLA from Bihar's Sheohar. (ANI)

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