34 years after, man freed; Rajasthan Govt told to give Rs 5 lakh

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has asked the Rajasthan government to give Rs five lakh monetary relief to a man, who spent 34 years as an undertrial in a state jail for no offence committed by him.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has asked the Rajasthan government to give Rs five lakh monetary relief to a man, who spent 34 years as an undertrial in a state jail for no offence committed by him.

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Prabhunath, a villager of Pattakhori of Basti district in Uttar Pradesh, was arrested by police on May 14, 1974, from the Bhuttewala border post area in Sriganganagar district along the Indo-Pak border in Rajasthan allegedly for his "suspicious activities".

He was 20 years old then.

A case was registered against him under the Passport Act and he was sent to jail where he became mentally ill.

During investigation of the case, police found Parbhunath innocent and later submitted a final report in the court in March 1975, the NHRC noted.

The man was, however, kept under "illegal detention" despite the court order for his release accepting the final investigation report of the police, NHRC noted. Prabhunath was finally handed over to his family in April 2008.