Wrongful Conviction Battle: Man Seeks Justice After 12 Years in Prison

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued notice on the writ petition filed by Ramkirat Munilal Goud, who was acquitted by the apex court on May 7, 2025.

The Justice Vikram Nath-led Bench also directed that notice be issued to the Attorney General and Solicitor General, the highest and second-highest law officers of the Union, to assist it in the matter.

The apex court further tagged two similar petitions filed by ex-death row convicts, Kattavellai @ Devakar and Sanjay, seeking compensation.

Goud's petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution detailed a harrowing account of wrongful arrest, fabricated evidence, and tainted investigation that led to his conviction by a Special POCSO Court in Thane on March 5, 2019, and the subsequent confirmation of his death sentence by the Bombay High Court on November 25, 2021.

The Supreme Court, while acquitting him in May 2025, had made scathing observations on the conduct of the police and prosecution. The apex court found that key witnesses "were created by the investigation agency for ulterior motive".

It also held that Goud was illegally arrested on October 3, 2013, noting that "there was no material on the investigation file so as to even cast a minimal suspicion against the accused appellant. The Investigating Officers did not even possess the barest evidence which could have pointed a finger of suspicion towards the accused appellant. Thus, the very foundation for arresting the appellant in this case is lacking".

The plea stated that the petitioner endured six years on death row and was released only on May 19, after spending twelve years in prison without ever receiving parole or furlough.

"The Petitioner's children had never been able to visit him in prison," the plea said, adding that upon his release, he found his family "living in a kaccha house, with plastic sheets for a roof", having sold and mortgaged land and jewellery to pay for his legal expenses.

"The petitioner, now aged 41 years, lost the prime years of his life due to a wrongful conviction, essentially induced by an unlawful and tainted investigation. These wrongs suffered by him on account of the officers of the respondent State of Maharashtra ought to be compensated so that he may restart his life and provide for his family," the petition further stated.

Claiming a violation of his fundamental rights under Article 21, the petition said that the government must be held strictly liable for the "illegal and tainted investigation, unfair prosecution, and fabricated evidence" that led to his wrongful conviction.

"The mere release of the individual from incarceration is not sufficient to correct the wrong faced by him," the petition contended, urging the Supreme Court to direct the state of Maharashtra to provide appropriate compensation for pecuniary and non-pecuniary harm.

The petition on behalf of Goud was filed by advocates Mihir Samson and Yash S. Vijay, along with Square Circle Clinic, NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad. Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium appeared for the petitioner, while senior advocates Gopal Sankarnarayanan and Anitha Shenoy represented the other two petitioners.

- IANS