Row over Bihar Government’s Notification Facilitating Premature Release of a Murderer

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Apr 25: The BJP which is appreciative of the Gujarat government’s decision to release earlier-than-schedule of 11 convicts in Bilkis Bano gang rape and murder case, is up in arms against the Bihar government for premature release of a Rashtriya Janata Dal leader serving life imprisonment for murder of a Bihar cadre IAS officer

While the former Bihar deputy chief minister and BJP leader Sushil Modi said the move to release the former MP Anand Mohan Singh and 26 others was “unconstitutional,” the BJP’s IT department head Amit Malviya has targeted the Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, asking if “someone who is leaning on a criminal syndicate, to hold on to power, be the face of India, even as opposition leader?”

The Nitish government tweaked the rule of jail manual and on April 10, 2023, the State Home Department (Prison) issued a notification stating “in Bihar Prison Manual 2012, Rule 48(1)(a), the mentioned phrase or, the murder of a public servant on duty will be removed.” This particular amendment helped early release of Anand Mohan Singh.

Bihar government on Monday evening officially issued a notification to release the don-turned-politician Anand Mohan Singh, currently serving life sentence for the murder of former District Magistrate of Gopalganj G. Krishnaiah, but is currently on 15 day parole to attend the marriage ceremony of his Chetan Anand, a RJD member of the Bihar Assembly.

Anand Mohan, a don-turned-politician is Rajput by caste and once ruled the Koshi region and considered the leader of upper caste. Anand Mohan was also MP from Sheohar Lok Sabha seat in 1996 while being in Jail. Mohan’s associate Chhotan Shukla was killed in police’s encounter after which Anand Mohan along with Bhutkun Shukla subsequently killed the then Gopalganj DM on the Muzaffarpur-Vaishali road in 1994.

His wife Lovely Anand earlier represented Vaishali Lok Sabha seat in 1994 on the ticket of Bihar Pupil’s Party which is presently a defunct political party. Lovely was also a member of Bihar legislative assembly. At present Anand Mohan’s son Chetan Anand is MLA from Sheohar assembly seat on RJD ticket and his mother is also a member of the party. Lovely was a candidate of Hindustani Awam Morcha Secular (HAMS) in 2015 assembly election from Sheohar eat but lost the election.

Singh, a former RJD MP facing numerous cases, was found guilty of abetting the lynching of a Dalit district magistrate G Krishnaiah in 1994. The strongman was sentenced to death by a lower court in 2007, but the Patna High Court next year commuted the penalty to life imprisonment. He has been in jail for 15 years.

Now, he is among 27 prisoners set to be released after the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government tweaked the prison rules, allowing remission of jail term for those convicted of murdering a public servant on duty.

G Uma Krishnaiah, wife of the deceased Dalit IAS officer G Krishnaiah, who was killed by Mohan in 1994, condemned the Nitish Kumar government’s move. Speaking to media persons in Hyderabad, where she is living, she said “Nitish Kumar is setting a horrible precedent by releasing a person convicted of murder. It will embolden criminals to attack government officials because they know they can easily get out of prison. For just a few Rajput votes, he has taken a decision that has so many consequences for the common people. The Rajput community should think over this – whether they want a criminal like Anand Mohan to represent them in politics.”

She said the decision was sending “wrong signals” in the society and requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and ask Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to take the decision back. “Not a good decision. We were not happy with the life imprisonment decision earlier but now he is being released and entering politics. We don’t agree with the move. It’s in a way encouraging the criminals. It sends out a message that you can commit a crime, and go to jail but then get freed and join politics. The death penalty was good,” she said.

Ms Krishnaiah called the decision a “selfish motivation” and suggested it will incentivise criminals. She further called it a political decision that “nobody would like.” On the future course of action, she said she’d take the advice of G Krishnaiah’s batchmates and the IAS association, who are discussing it and will decide within a week.

Former IPS officer Amitabh Kumar Das strongly criticised the state government move calling it unprecedented. He also said that he would be approaching the Patna High Court to strike down the amendment.

“In my entire career, I have never gone through such a change in the jail manual; this is unprecedented not only in Bihar but in India as well. I am going to challenge the amendment in Patna High Court through PIL, my lawyer is already drafting the petition. I was trying to convince Ms. Uma Krishnaiah, the widow of G. Krishnaiah to file a PIL against the amendment but she was threatened by Anand Mohan’s gang and she refused to come to Bihar.

“Anand Mohan should be back to Saharsa jail. Any amendment should be in public interest rather than for any individual. He is not Nelson Mandela. Anand Mohan has committed a cold-blooded murder of a serving IAS officer. To save a murderer, Nitish is amending the rule which is malafide. It will not stand in the court,” Das said. He further said technically this issue should be raised by the IAS association of Bihar as Krishnaiah was an IAS officer.

The Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati also strongly criticised the Bihar government for releasing the murderer of a Dalit officer. She had stressed that the move has caused a lot of anger among the Dalit across the country.

Anand Mohan, who was attending his son’s engagement ceremony, referred to the Bilkis Bano case and the Gujarat BJP government’s decision for the premature release of the convicts. Commenting sarcastically on the BJP, he said, “A lot can be said. A decision has been taken in Gujarat due to pressure by Nitish Kumar and RJD. Some people have been released and greeted with garlands.” Asked if he was referring to the Bilkis Bano gangrape case, he said, “Yes, that’s what I am referring to”. BJP is in power in Gujarat.

Responding to the uproar over his imminent release, Singh said, “There are many in BJP who have also said that I am being wronged and that I should be released. You can’t stop anyone from saying anything.” The ruling JDU has hit back at the BJP, stressing that Singh has completed his jail term and that the Nitish Kumar government does not differentiate between “aam” and “khaas” people.