SC agrees to hear plea seeking compensation for wrongful arrest, incarceration
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a plea filed by a man incarcerated for 12 years before his acquittal by the apex court in a rape and murder case, seeking compensation for the "wrongful arrest, prosecution and conviction".
"Issue notice, returnable on November 24. We would request the attorney general or the solicitor general to assist this court in this matter," a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said on Monday.
The bench was hearing three separate petitions raising the similar issue.
In one of the matters, the petitioner was on death row for six years after being awarded capital punishment by a trial court in Thane, Maharashtra, in March 2019.
The Bombay High Court in November 2021 upheld the death sentence awarded to him.
However, in May this year, the apex court acquitted him of the charges while noting the "flawed and tainted" investigation.
"The instant case is yet another classic example of shabby and perfunctory investigation leading to failure of the prosecution case involving a gruesome incident of rape and murder of the budding life of a tender young girl aged about 3 years and 9 months," the top court said in its May verdict.
The man has now approached the top court seeking compensation "on account of his wrongful conviction, predicated on an illegal and tainted investigation and unfair prosecution using fabricated evidence" by which he was convicted for the alleged offences by the trial court in Thane.
"The petitioner had been arrested on October 3, 2013, without any basis, and was finally released on May 19, 2025, after 12 years of wrongful incarceration, six of which he endured on death row," the plea said.
It said the man, now 41, hails from a village in Uttar Pradesh.
"The petitioner has suffered a grave and severe violation of his fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, on account of being falsely accused of heinous offences, illegally arrested, being made the subject of an illegal and tainted investigation, unfair prosecution, and suffering 12 years of wrongful incarceration, for which the petitioner ought to be appropriately compensated by the respondent state...," the plea said.
It added that mere release of the individual from incarceration was not sufficient to correct the wrong faced by him, and the state ought to be directed to pay appropriate compensation to the petitioner for the pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage he suffered for 12 years.
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2nd WT20I: Shafali, spin trio do star turns in India''s seven-wicket win
Visakhapatnam (PTI): Shafali Verma hit a blistering unbeaten 69 as India made short work of a paltry target to outclass Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the second Women’s T20 International here on Tuesday.
India now lead the five-match series 2-0 after another one-sided victory, having restricted Sri Lanka to a modest 128 for 9 through a collective display of disciplined bowling from the spin trio of seasoned Sneh Rana, ably complemented by young spinners Vaishnavi Sharma and Shree Charani.
During the chase, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana (14) fell cheaply but Shafali, enjoying new found confidence after a stellar show in the World Cup final, sent the bowlers on a leather-hunt during her 34-ball knock, winning it for her team in just 11.5 overs.
The hosts have now completed back-to-back successful chases within 15 overs which speaks volumes about the unit's sky-high confidence.
Shafali's innings had 11 punchy boundaries apart from a maximum.
The floodgates opened when left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera bowled a few flighted deliveries and Shafali would step out everytime to hit her over extra cover. Her footwork against slow bowlers was immaculate whether stepping out to loft the ball or rocking back to punch or pull.
Seeing her confidence, the newly appointed Delhi Capitals skipper Jemimah Rodrigues (26 off 15 balls) also attacked as the duo added 58 runs in just 4.3 overs.
By the time Rodrigues was out trying to hit one six too many, the match as a contest was over. Shafali completed her half-century off just 27 balls and completed the formalities in a jiffy.
Earlier, off-spinner Rana, who got a look-in after Deepti Sharma was ruled out due to fever, showed her utility keeping the Lankan batters under tight leash with figures of 1 for 11 in 4 overs, including a maiden which certainly is a rarity in T20 cricket.
Charani, who made an impression during India's ODI World Cup triumph, took 2 for 23 in her quota of overs, while Vaishnavi after an impressive debut in the opening encounter, finished with 2 for 32, not letting the Islanders get easy runs in her second spell.
The last six wickets fell for just 24 runs, but what stood out during India’s bowling effort was their superb ground fielding. After a patchy show in the previous game, the improved sharpness in the field resulted in three run-outs.
Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu (31 off 24 balls) looked in good nick as she deposited length deliveries from seamers Kranti Gaud and Arundhati Reddy over the ropes but it was Rana, who kept her quiet by repeatedly pitching on good length.
Unable to manoeuvre the strike and with the big hits suddenly drying up, Athapaththu chanced her arm at another delivery in which Rana had shortened the length slightly.
Not having transferred the weight into the lofted shot, Athapaththu's hoick was pouched cleanly by Amanjot Kaur at long-off.
This was after Athapaththu's opening partner Vishmi Gunaratne (1) had offered a simple return catch to Gaud.
Hasini Perera (22 off 28 balls) and Harshitha Samarawickrama (33 off 32 balls) did stitch a stand of 44 but they could never set the tempo against the Indian spin troika.
Once Hasini offered a tame return catch off a Charani full-toss, Sri Lankans never recovered and lost wickets in a heap towards the end.
