A court martialled soldier has been in jail for the last 27 years for killing two of his colleagues
The Supreme Court has taken note of a woman's plea that her husband, an army man, has been in jail for the last 27 years without a final decision on the death penalty awarded by a Court Martial for killing two of his colleagues.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice AM Khanwilkar took note of the plea of Mithilesh Rai, wife of the court martialled and jailed army man Lance Naik Devendra Nath Rai and issued notice to the Ministry of Defence, the Chief of Army Staff and others and asked them to respond within four weeks.
Devendra Rai, 60, whose mental health has suffered reportedly because of the long duration of his imprisonment, was awarded the death penatly by the General Court Martial (GCM) in 1991. The Centre had confirmed the penalty.
Devendra Rai had appealed in the Allahabad High Court which, in 2000, upheld the conviction, but set aside the death penalty saying no special reason was accorded by the General Court Martial, which also did not do balancing of mitigating and aggravating circumstances.
The Central government had challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court which, on January 10, 2006, remanded the case back to the High Court and asked it to decide it afresh.
The high court dismissed the plea of Devendra Rai on May 8, 2007 due to non-prosecution as the lawyer could not appear.
The plea for restoration was filed compounding the woes of Devendra Rai and his wife as the case files remained untraceable in the High Court Registry from 2007 to 2013, after which the case got revived.
However, the high court, despite the specific order of the top court, transferred the case to the Armed Force's Tribunal or AFT to decide the case by scrutinising the 1991 findings arrived at by the General Court Martial, the plea said.
The Armed Force's Tribunal, which adjourned the hearing on four occasions, dismissed the Devendra Rai's plea for non-prosecution in 2015.
His wife then moved the top court through senior lawyer Shekhar Naphade and advocate Amartya Kanjilal seeking enforcement of the fundamental right to life. The top court has issued notice to the Centre and others recently.
The Lance Naik was allegedly involved in the murder of two Army personnel on June 15, 1991 and was immediately taken into custody.
His wife has alleged that during the last 27 years of his imprisonment, Devendra Rai has not been released even once, either on bail, parole or furlough.
The plea has sought quashing of the order of the sentence passed by the General Court Martial back in 1991. Alternatively, the plea has sought Devendra Rai's release after awarding the jail term already undergone by him.