New Delhi, Nov. 11: Taking cognisance of a ?shocking delay in criminal justice administration?, the Supreme Court today gave the Assam government a week to explain why a tribal villager arrested in 1951 for an unproved offence was forced to rot in judicial custody for 54 years before being freed without a trial.
Machal Lalung, a resident of Silchang village of Morigaon district, walked to freedom on July 1, still confused about what his crime was or why he had been confined to the Tezpur Mental Asylum for so long. There are no police records of his crime and arrest. The only recorded piece of information is that he had been booked under Section 326 of the IPC, which pertains to ?voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means?. It is a non-bailable offence that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Kamrup chief judicial magistrate H.K. Sarma freed Lalung on a token personal release bond of one rupee after it transpired that he had been languishing in the mental hospital from 1951 until May this year, after which he was shifted to Guwahati Jail. He would have remained in custody had the National Human Rights Commission not intervened.
Not content with Lalung?s release, advocate F.I. Choudhury wrote to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to fix responsibility for a ?shocking and stunning? judicial aberration that ?knocks our conscience?.
?Who will/can compensate him for his lost years? His tears have dried up and all dreams died many years ago. His silent eyes have many grievances and questions?As a young lawyer, I believe that in complicated issues like this, the judiciary can only award this man compensatory peace and give back his forgotten smile before he dies,? Choudhury said in a letter that is now being treated as a PIL.
He said the apex court must intervene to ?rescue many Lalungs languishing in various prisons/mental hospitals due to delays in administrative/judicial process?.
Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal responded by asking Assam chief secretary S. Kabilan to submit an explanation within a week and factual records of the case in two weeks. The court also sought an explanation from the registrar-general of Gauhati High Court on why Lalung was never produced in court.
In his first interaction with the media after being freed, Lalung had told The Telegraph that he was happy to be reunited with his family but missed the surroundings of the mental asylum that had been his home for five decades.
