SC Slams Madhya Pradesh, Awards ₹25 Lakh Compensation to Convict Jailed 4.7 Years Beyond Term
Supreme Court rebuked Madhya Pradesh for unlawful over-incarceration, awarding Rs. 25 lakh to a convict jailed 4.7 years beyond his sentence, and ordered a review to find similar cases
Supreme Court Directs Madhya Pradesh to Pay ₹25 Lakh to Convict Wrongfully Jailed Beyond Sentence in Rape Case
The Supreme Court today directed the State of Madhya Pradesh to pay Rs. 25 lakh in compensation to a rape convict who remained in prison for over 4.7 years after completing his seven-year sentence.
The Bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice KV Viswanathan strongly reprimanded the State for its lapse, which led to the prolonged incarceration.
Initially, when issuing notice, the Court had noted that the convict appeared to have suffered eight years of over-incarceration.
However, Senior Advocate Nachiketa Joshi, appearing for Madhya Pradesh, clarified that the convict had spent some time out on bail, reducing the excess custody period to 4.7 years.
Granting relief, the Court observed that the State was responsible for the violation of the convict’s liberty and ordered compensation accordingly. It also expressed displeasure over “misleading” affidavits filed in the matter by the State.
While disposing of the case, the Bench directed the Madhya Pradesh State Legal Services Authority to conduct an exercise to identify similarly placed individuals who may have been subjected to unlawful over-incarceration.
“We want the State to offer appropriate explanation in this regard,” the Bench observed while granting two weeks’ time to the State to file a reply. The matter arose from a petition filed by the appellant challenging prolonged incarceration.
Singh was tried in Sessions Trial No.416 of 2004 before the Sessions Judge, Khurai, District Sagar, Madhya Pradesh for offences punishable under Sections 376(1), 450 and 506-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The trial court convicted him and imposed a sentence of life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs. 2,000.
He preferred Criminal Appeal No.1613 of 2005 before the High Court of Madhya Pradesh.
By a judgment dated October 10, 2017, the High Court had partly allowed the appeal, reducing the sentence of life imprisonment to seven years of rigorous imprisonment while maintaining the conviction under Sections 376, 450 and 506-B IPC. The court ordered all sentences to run concurrently.
While reducing the sentence, the High Court had observed: “In the present case, the prosecutrix was a married lady. There is a delay in lodging the FIR. The medical evidence has not been corroborated to the commission of offence of rape. Looking to the overall circumstances and evidence on record, in our opinion, it would be just and proper if the sentence awarded by the trial court for commission of offence punishable under section 376 of IPC be reduced to 7 years.” It had further ordered that the conviction under all three sections stands upheld and the appellant shall remain in jail to serve the remaining part of his jail sentence.
Despite this modification, the Supreme Court noted that Singh was released from jail only on June 6, 2025, long after serving the entirety of the reduced sentence. “The matter of concern is that although the High Court partly allowed the appeal by reducing the sentence of life imprisonment to seven years of rigorous imprisonment, the petitioner came to be released from jail only on 6-6-2025,” the Bench had said, terming the lapse a grave issue.
Case Title: Sohan Singh @ Bablu v. State of Madhya Pradesh
Hearing Date: September 8, 2025
Bench: Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan