Nitish Ally CPI (ML) Questions Anand Mohan Singh’s Release

Patna: Unlike most of the allies in Bihar’s coalition government, the CPI(ML) has questioned the decision to release gangster-turned-politician Anand Mohan Singh, a Rajput serving a life sentence since 2007 for the murder of Gopalganj district magistrate G Krishnaiah in Muzaffarpur on December 5, 1994.

The Nitish Kumar government had issued a notification for releasing 27 prisoners, including former MP Singh, after removing a clause in the 2012 Bihar Prison Manual that forbade the remission of jail term for people convicted of murdering a public servant on duty.

Kumar, his deputy Tejashwi Yadav and former chief minister (CM) Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM have defended the decision with ally Congress not opposing it. In fact, the CM and Yadav attended the engagement function of Singh’s son and RJD MLA Chetan Anand.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav attended the engagement function of jailed Former MP Anand Mohan Singh's son and RJD MLA Chetan Anand.

Earlier today, Bihar govt issued notification regarding the release of 27 prisoners including Former Lok Sabha MP Anand Mohan… pic.twitter.com/r7zHb5TSHn

— ANI (@ANI) April 24, 2023

However, Kumar’s ally CPI(ML) has termed it a “selective release of prisoners”. “Why this selective release of prisoners in Bihar?” asked the party’s national general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya.

Why this selective release of prisoners in Bihar? While 27 prisoners who have completed 14+ years are being released, six rural poor activists from Arwal who have been in jail for 22 years are left out! Six of these #TADA14 prisoners have already died. Policy must be consistent.

— Dipankar (@Dipankar_cpiml) April 25, 2023

The CPI(ML) pointed out that while these 27 prisoners, who have completed 14-plus years, are being released, six poor rural activists from Arwal—party members Jagdish Yadav, Churaman Bhagat, Arvind Chaudhary, Ajit Sau, Laxman Sau and Shyam Chaudhary—who have been in jail for more than 22 years are left out. They are the surviving members of the 14 members convicted under TADA in 2003.

According to the CPI(ML), only one of the 14 members, Tribhuvan Sharma, was released by the High Court in 2020. “Three years have passed since then and one more TADA inmate died in jail. This selective release of prisoners has inflicted more injustice on these victims who have already spent more than two decades in the jails of Bihar,” the party said.

“The policy of release of prisoners must be fair and transparent. Release all the 14 TADA inmates. Release all the oppressed poor people who have been locked up unfairly under the Prohibition Act,” Bhattacharya demanded.

The Central IAS Association on Tuesday expressed “deep dismay at the decision … by a change in classification rules of prisoners”.

“Such dilution leads to impunity, erosion of morale of public servants, undermines public order and makes a mockery of administration of justice,” the Association said in a statement posted on Twitter.

The Central IAS Association expresses its deep dismay at the decision of the State Government of Bihar to release the convicts of the brutal killing of Late Shri G Krishnaiah, IAS, former District Magistrate of Gopalganj, by a change in classification rules of prisoners. pic.twitter.com/a84s7pYL20

— IAS Association (@IASassociation) April 25, 2023

Krishnaiah’s wife Uma Devi, termed the decision an “injustice”. “We are not happy; we feel it is wrong. There is caste politics in Bihar. He is a Rajput and will get Rajput votes. That’s why he is being released from jail. Otherwise, what is the need of releasing a criminal? He will get election ticket so that he can get Rajput votes,” she told news agency ANI.

#WATCH | We are not happy, we feel it is wrong. There is caste politics in Bihar, he is a Rajput, so he will get Rajput votes and that is why he is being taken out (from jail), otherwise, what is the need of bringing a criminal. He will be given election ticket so that he can… pic.twitter.com/dfWgGZ5KEx

— ANI (@ANI) April 25, 2023

Singh, who was out on parole for 15 days for the third time in six months, surrendered to Saharsa jail on Wednesday and the process for his permanent release will start now.

The state government wanted to send a political message to Singh’s caste that his release was a special favour. “One parole after another for Anand Mohan and the decision to set him free is the coalition government’s move to make a dent in the BJP’s upper-caste vote bank ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election,” a political watcher requesting anonymity told Newsclick.

At a rally in honour of legendary Maharana Pratap in January, Kumar publicly assured the Rajput caste of making efforts to release Singh. Singh’s wife and former MP Lovely Anand is a RJD leader. Both Lovely and Chetan are close to Yadav.