*Tribal youth gets justice at last * Correspondent http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/21/stories/2007082156080100.htm
*High Court awards him Rs. 8 lakhs compensation for illegal detention * ------------------------------ * Lower court employee commits mistake State asked to deposit the money in a bank * ------------------------------ CUTTACK: In a historic judgment, the Orissa High Court on Monday awarded a compensation of Rs. 8 lakh to a tribal boy who was illegally detained in jail for more than eight years. Pratap Naik of Boudh district languished in jail till January 2003 though he was cleared of murder charge in October 1994. 'Historic ruling' A lower court employee, committed the goof-up, failing to place the acquittal order of the High Court before the district court of Phulbani for eight years two months and 21 days. Terming the erring court staff a State government employee, the court observed that the State couldn't escape its responsibility of paying the compensation. Senior lawyers said this was a historic ruling as never before a compensation of such a big amount was awarded in any PIL case. The lawyers also pointed out that this was a rare case where a lower court came in for flak in the High Court. The Bench of Chief Justice A. K. Ganguly and Justice Indrajit Mohanty asked the Government to deposit the amount with the HC Registrar who in turn would put it in a nationalised bank as a fixed deposit for 10 years. "During this period the victim would be allowed to withdraw 75 per cent of the monthly interest. He would be at liberty to withdraw the whole amount after maturity," the Bench said. Pratap was arrested in February 1989 when he was only 14 years old. He was convicted by the district court in December the same year and was sentenced for life. By the time he was released after 13 years and ten months of confinement, including the illegal detention period, he became severely ill, suffering from acute mental disorder. Pratap did not seek any relief for the illegal detention of his own but a social activist Prabir Kumar Das of Bhubaneswar, who is also a practising advocate, moved the High Court in September 2005 seeking a compensation of Rs. 10 lakhs for the illiterate tribal who is now undergoing treatment for mental illness in a hospital. The High Court, which had completed the hearing in June, pronounced its judgment in a packed courtroom saying: "Right to life and personal liberty of any person cannot be curtailed by the State. So the victim should be awarded compensation for the loss of eight precious years of his life for no fault of his." "A poor man doesn't deserve lesser compensation for the violation of his rights by the State," the court added. An elated Prabir Kumar Das said, "Justice for a poor tribal boy after 18 years is not something to cheer about but it is nevertheless praiseworthy." *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ours is a battle not for wealth or for power. It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of human personality." - Dr BR Ambedkar ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
