Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said that he is “surprised” over the backlash they are receiving after the release of ex-Lok Sabha MP Anand Mohan Singh - who is convicted in the murder of IAS officer G Krishnaiah. Speaking to the media about the amended clause from the Bihar Prison Manual, Kumar said, “When this was not in place, several people used to demand it. Now when it is in place, they are opposing it.”
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On Anand Mohan's release, the Bihar CM said, “He was in jail for 15 years…he was served his sentence, and now it's done”.
The Bihar government on April 24 notified about the release of 27 prisoners, including former MP Anand Mohan Singh. This came days after the Nitish Kumar-led dispensation amended the Bihar Prison Manual, 2012, which stated that anyone found guilty of killing a government official will not be given the benefit of remission ever.
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“In the light of the Bihar state sentence remission council meeting on April 20, 2023, the decision was taken for the release of prisoners having served an actual sentence of 14 years or sentence of 20 years with remission,” the notification said.
{{/usCountry}}“In the light of the Bihar state sentence remission council meeting on April 20, 2023, the decision was taken for the release of prisoners having served an actual sentence of 14 years or sentence of 20 years with remission,” the notification said.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier on Thursday, Bihar chief secretary Amir Subhani also defended Mohan's release saying that it was “as per legal provisions” and questions being raised over it were “baseless”.
“No special favour has been done to anybody. The prison rules are amended from time to time, in the normal course. The clause about government servant on duty was dropped because it was found to be discriminatory. Moreover, we found no other state treating such killings differently,” Subhani said.
(With inputs from agencies)