For 27 years, an Army man sentenced to the gallows by an Army General Court Martial, has remained incarcerated in an Allahabad Jail awaiting a judicial confirmation on his death sentence.
The prolonged jail term has taken a toll on his mental health, citing which his wife has approached the Supreme Court for his release.
The Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud issued notice to the Centre on the petition by Mithilesh Rai and sought a response within four weeks.
Her husband, lance Naik Devendra Nath Rai was charged of murdering two Army personnel on June 15, 1991. On September 12, 1991 a General Court Martial proceeding sentenced him to death. The sentence was later confirmed by the Central Government almost a year later.
The convicted Armyman approached Allahabad High Court which quashed the death sentence on January 6, 2000, stating that the sentence did
not cite reasons for awarding death penalty.
The Centre challenged this order before the Supreme Court and got the matter referred back to High Court for fresh consideration. Following this order passed on January 10, 2006, when the matter returned to Allahabad HC, the case file went missing for a period of six years (May 11, 2007 to November 20, 2013) due to which the case was never taken up.
Alleging this administrative negligence on part of the HC, senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, who appeared for Rai, said his incarceration must end and the order sentencing him to death be set aside. But the worst was yet to come for the incarcerated Army man.
With the coming of the Armed Forces Tribunal Act 2007, the HC referred Rai’s case to Tribunal. After several adjournments, when the case could be finally taken up, the lawyer of the accused officer was not present. On account of this technical defect, the case was dismissed. The case was restored on May 5, 2015 and since then it has been pending before the AFT.
Since 2003, Rai has been taken by Naini Jail authorities to a psychiatrist and is receiving medication for schizophrenia.