Supreme Court acquits man after 22 years’ wrongful imprisonment

The Story in Brief

The Supreme Court acquitted a man who had spent 22 years in jail after a conviction in a triple murder case. He had been sentenced to life imprisonment under Section 302 and had already served 12 years before filing an appeal through jail. The Odisha High Court rejected an application to condone a delay of 3,157 days and dismissed the jail memo of appeal, which resulted in a further ten years in custody before the Supreme Court heard the matter.

A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran found that the trial court failed to evaluate the evidence properly. The conviction had rested on a sole eyewitness the court described as unreliable, and on a confession that was extracted by third‑degree methods and not admissible. The Supreme Court said the high court should have taken a practical, sympathetic view and noted that access to justice still eludes marginalised sections.

The Indian Opinion

The original report uses emotive phrasing such as “frustrated at the altar of the judiciary” and that the Supreme Court “came to his rescue”, which highlights judicial failure and sympathy for the accused. While the Supreme Court’s strong criticism of the trial and high courts is a factual part of the judgment, the article does not provide fuller records about why the delay occurred or the detailed reasoning the trial court used when assessing the eyewitness and alleged confession. An ordinary reader should treat this as a significant example of judicial correction, but avoid using this single case alone to draw firm conclusions about the entire criminal justice system without further evidence.

Original article: Supreme Court acquits man after 22 years in jail for wrongful conviction (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

This story was summarised and commented on by AI from the source linked above.