Chandigarh:
Gopal Dass, who returned home last week after spending 27 years in a Pakistani jail, today said he will file a case seeking compensation for the loss of precious years of his life.
"I will file a case for compensation against the Central government," he told PTI over phone from his native Bhaini Mian Khan village in Gurdaspur district.
"I will speak to my lawyers who will examine the issue before we approach the court," he said when asked when he will file the case, adding he will be able to give details only after the consultation process was over.
52-year-old Dass, convicted on charges of spying, was set free from the Lahore Central Jail after Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari remitted his sentence on humanitarian grounds following an appeal by the Indian Supreme Court. He crossed over to the Indian side of the border at Attari on April 7.
Immediately on his return, Dass lamented that he had lost the "golden period of youth in jail" and asked the Indian government why it was silent for the past 27 years.
"I have a grudge against the Indian leadership, which has never bothered about Indian prisoners rotting in prisons in Pakistan for many years. Thirty-two Indian nationals who have completed their jail terms are still languishing in Pakistani jails for lack of initiative on the part of the Indian government," he had said.
Dass claimed he was given Rs 500 for every trip to Pakistan by RAW for spying and was assured that if anything happened to him, his family would be taken care of by the authorities here.
Dass, then 25 and unmarried, had crossed over to Pakistan in 1984 and was arrested by the Pakistani Rangers on charges of spying. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and was set to be released by this year-end.