Supreme Court seeks original records on Anand Mohan Singh's release from Bihar government

Mohan was sentenced to life term after being held guilty for leading a mob which lynched then Gopalganj district Magistrate in 1994

The Supreme Court on Friday told the Bihar government to produce original records in connection with the remission granted to former MP Anand Mohan, who was sentenced to life term in the 1994 murder of G Krishnaiah, the then district magistrate of Gopalganj.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and J B Pardiwala directed the Bihar government counsel to produce the original records related to the remission granted to Mohan for the perusal of the court.

The court fixed the matter for further hearing in August. It also told an intervenor not to politicise and issue or bring in caste factor.

Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra appeared for the petitioner Telugu Umadevi Krishnaiah, wife of IAS officer G Krishnaiah.

Also Read | Gangster-turned-politician Anand Mohan Singh released from prison in Bihar

On May 8, the court had issued notice to the state government on her plea, challenging premature release of Mohan from life term.

Mohan, an influential leader from Thakur caste, was sentenced to life term after being held guilty for leading a mob which lynched then Gopalganj district Magistrate in 1994.

The petitioner challenged validity of the Bihar government's decision to amend the rules to facilitate release of Mohan, convicted of killing a public servant on duty.

Mohan has already released from Saharsa jail on April 27.

Among other grounds, the wife of slain officer said that life imprisonment handed down to the gangster-turned- politician meant incarceration for his entire natural course of life as in his case, he was awarded death penalty on October 5, 2007 by the trial court which was commuted to rigorous life imprisonment by the Patna High Court on December 10, 2008 and confirmed by the Supreme Court on July 10, 2012.

A 1985-batch IAS officer Krishnaiah hailed from Telangana. He was just 37-year-old and was posted as district magistrate of Gopalganj. He was beaten to death by a mob in 1994 allegedly at exhortation of Mohan, when his vehicle tried to overtake the funeral procession of gangster Chhotan Shukla in Muzaffarpur district.