Why not contemplate compensating people acquitted after long incarceration? Parliament can consider rules laid down in foreign jurisdictions in this regard, said the SC in a judgment uploaded late last night, acquitting a man who was, on the basis of “faulty investigation, shaky evidence and non[1]examination of material witnesses”, concurrently convicted and awarded death penalty by a Kerala trial court and HC for murdering a young couple in 2011. The SC found the investigation faulty, and also underlined a lack of professionalism in conducting the DNA test.
Bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta acquitted Kattavellai aka Devakar, convicted for murdering two young lovers after raping the girl.
Writing the judgment and referring to the lengthy period of incarceration of the accused convict, Justice Sanjay Karol said” the worrying feature here is that the conviction had no legs to stand on whatsoever and yet the appellant-convict has been in custody for years. In foreign jurisdictions such as the US, acquittal after a long period of incarceration has led courts to direct states to award compensation to persons who suffered behind bars, only to be eventually held innocent.”
“This right to compensation has been recognised by both federal and state statutes. There are two ways that compensation can be claimed, tort claims/civil rights suits/moral bills of obligation and statutory claims.Given the variety of statutes across jurisdictions, grounds for compensations/procedures vary significantly. Well, it is for the legislature to consider this aspect.”