Former Bihar MP Anand Mohan Singh, who was released after serving over 14 years in jail for abetting the murder of an IAS officer in 1994, yesterday claimed innocence in the case.
Speaking for the first time after being granted remittance by the Bihar government, the politician-turned-politician, while addressing a public event in Bihar's Araria on Wednesday, said he was "ready to be hanged if found guilty".
"This country is nobody's property. I believe in law and Constitution and served a jail term of more than 15 years without any complaint. I am ready to get hanged if the govt believes that I am guilty," the former MP said.
Anand Mohan Singh walked out of jail last month amid a huge row over the Bihar government's prison rule change that cleared the path for his release.
The former MP's release from jail comes after the Nitish Kumar government tweaked the jail rules. Earlier, anyone convicted in connection with the murder of a public servant on duty was not eligible for a remission in sentence. This was changed by the Bihar government, paving the way for the release of 27 convicts, including Singh.
Singh, who faced multiple cases, was found guilty of instigating a mob that lynched district magistrate G Krishnaiah, a Dalit IAS officer, in 1994.
Mr Krishnaiah was attacked by a mob protesting with the body of Chhotan Shukla, another gangster-politician of Anand Mohan's party, who had been killed a day earlier.
Singh was sentenced to death by a lower court in 2007, but the Patna High Court later commuted the penalty to life imprisonment.
The Supreme Court on Monday sought response from the Centre and the Bihar government on a request challenging the state government's decision to prematurely release Anand Mohan Singh.
The petitioner said life imprisonment awarded to the gangster-turned-politician meant incarceration for his entire natural course of life and it cannot be mechanically interpreted to last just 14 years.
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