Recently, the Supreme Court has expressed grave concern over a case where a convict remained behind bars for more than eight years after completing his sentence, terming it a “serious lapse” on the part of the State of Madhya Pradesh. The Division Bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice K.V. Viswanathan directed the State Government to explain how such a miscarriage of justice occurred. The Court has granted two week’s time for the filing of a detailed reply and posted the matter for further hearing on September 8, 2025.
The case arose in 2004 when the Sessions Judge convicted the petitioner for offences under Section 376(1), Section 450, and Section 506-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), sentencing him to life imprisonment and imposing a fine of ₹2,000.
On appeal, the Madhya Pradesh High Court (Jabalpur) partly allowed his appeal. While upholding his conviction, the Court reduced his sentence to seven year’s rigorous imprisonment, noting inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case, including delay in lodging the FIR and lack of corroboration from medical evidence.
However, despite the appellate reduction, he was released from prison only in June 2025, after having spent over 15 years in jail, effectively serving an additional eight years beyond the lawful term.
The Bench observed, “We would like to know how such a serious lapse occurred and why the petitioner remained in jail for more than 8 years even after undergoing the entire sentence of seven years. We want the State to offer appropriate explanation in this regard.”
Case Title: Sohan Singh @ Bablu Vs. State of Madhya Pradesh
Case No: Petition for Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No.11244/2025
Coram: Justice J.B. Pardiwala, Justice K.V. Viswanathan
Advocate for Appellant: AOR Mahfooz Ahsan Nazki, Advs. Ayushma Awasthi, Vivek Rajan D.b, Hemant Gupta
Advocate for Respondent: AOR Mrinal Gopal Elker, Advs. Abhimanyu Singh, Saurabh Singh
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