[Malicious prosecution by police] Madhya Pradesh High Court awards ₹42 lakh compensation to ST medical student who spent 13 years in jail

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday acquitted and granted ₹42 lakh compensation to a former medical student from a Scheduled Tribe community who was wrongly convicted for murder [Chandresh Marskole v State of Madhya Pradesh]..A Bench of Justices Atul Sreedharan and Sunita Yadav passed the order on finding that the police had carried out the investigation to falsely implicate the appellant-accused, and the prosecution had been malicious. “The case reveals a sordid saga of manipulative and preconceived investigation followed by a malicious prosecution, where the police have investigated the case with the sole purpose of falsely implicating the Appellant and perhaps, deliberately protecting a prosecution witness who may have been the actual culprit,” the Court said. .In a nutshell- The appeal was against an order convicting the appellant of murder and sentencing him to life imprisonment;- The appellant claimed that he had been falsely implicated by a witness in connivance with the police;- The Court found that the conviction was based on a preconceived investigation followed by a malicious prosecution and thus, acquitted him;- Taking into account that the appellant spent over 13 years in jail and lost his future as a doctor, the court awarded compensation;- The State was directed to pay ₹42 lakh within ninety days, and the appellant was not precluded from pursuing civil remedies..The appellant was convicted of murdering a girl that he was allegedly in a relationship with. He spent over 13 years in prison after he was arrested at the age of 23. As of today, he is 36.His contention was that prosecution witness 1 (PW 1), the probable perpetrator of the crime, had falsely implicated him.The State argued that this submission that the appellant was a victim of false implication, arising from the proximity the witness enjoyed with the police, was fanciful and baseless..After scrutinising the material at length, the Bench was of the opinion that the conduct of the police was malicious. It stated that the investigation was perhaps done with the intention to shield the witness, but there was no affirmative material against him as he was not on trial..The investigation should have been transferred to a neutral agency like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in light of the proximity between the witness and the then Inspector General of Police, the Court opined.“This is a case that has been deliberately botched up and the Appellant falsely implicated to protect perhaps, the actual perpetrators of the offence who may have been known to the higher echelons of the state police,” it was finally held, with the orders of conviction being set aside..The High Court, given the peculiar facts of the case, then considered whether the appellant needs to be compensated.The Court took into account the fact that at the time of arrest, the appellant was a fourth-year medical student and the case wasted “thirteen precious years of his life.”.The Bench acknowledged that him belonging to the Gond Scheduled Tribe could have been connected to being made the victim of this 'motivated and malicious' investigation. However, it was clarified that the same could not be stated with certainty.“But the indignity, discrimination and oppression, that members of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes face in the state is a “notorious fact” and does not require any extraneous evidence to be led to prove the same," the Court said. .It was observed that the State could not be clad with the armour of sovereign immunity in a case where the discharge of state functions was with malicious intent..The fundamental right to a fair and unbiased trial was discussed, and in relation to this several cases were examined. A recent order of the Supreme Court in Nambinarayanan v Siby Mathew was considered, where a compensation of ₹50 lakh was granted to former ISRO scientist Nambinarayanan, indicted by the Kerala Police and exonerated by the Central Bureau of Investigation..On comparing the circumstances of that matter to this case, the High Court said the appellant’s fate was almost one of eternal damnation since the appellant, despite being marginalised, was on the verge of becoming a full-fledged doctor, a support for his family and a source of inspiration for his community. However, these plans were thrown into disarray due to this case.“Therefore, in the unique factual circumstances of this case, we hold that the Appellant is eligible for compensation on account of the violation of his fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India,” the Court ruled. .With this, the court directed ₹42 lakh to be paid by the State to the appellant within 90 days. It was clarified that this compensation did not preclude him from moving against the State in tort (civil wrong that causes a claimant harm, resulting in legal liability)..Advocate HR Naidu appeared for the appellant whereas the state was represented by panel lawyer Piyush Bhatnagar. .[Read Judgment]