Produce original records on remission granted to Anand Mohan, SC to Bihar govt

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Bihar government to produce complete original records with regard to the remission granted to former MP Anand Mohan, who was serving life term in the 1994 murder case of then Gopalganj District Magistrate G Krishnaiah.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala told advocate Manish Kumar, appearing for the Bihar government, that no further adjournment will be granted in the case and directed him to place the complete records for perusal of the court.

It listed the plea filed by the wife of the slain officer challenging the release of Mohan on August 8.

At the outset, Kumar sought some time to file a reply to the plea.

Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing for Uma Krishnaiah, the wife of the slain officer, said the state government has changed the policy retrospectively and released him in the case.

He urged the bench to direct the state to place entire records of criminal antecedents of Mohan and sought the matter to be listed in August.

The bench recorded that counsel for state government and Mohan have appeared before it and said no further adjournments will be granted.

“Original records with regard to remission to respondent-4 (Anand Mohan) by order dated April 10, 2023, be placed before the court”, the bench said, adding that records with regard to criminal antecedents be also placed before it.

Advocate Shoeb Alam appeared for an intervenor, and sought permission to assist the court in the matter.

The bench said, “Don’t politicise the matter. We are on pure legal issue and would not allow any intervention. If we feel there is necessity, we will allow all the concerned at the bar to assist in the matter”.

On May 8, the top court had sought response from the Bihar government on a plea challenging the state government’s decision to prematurely release Mohan.