Man walks free after 43-year legal battle

LUCKNOW: A UP native convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for murder in 1982 walked out of jail this week after a 43-year legal battle against the verdict culminated in his acquittal by Allahabad HC.

Lakhan Saroj, who was incarcerated for around 12 years in between periods of being out on bail, would be 103 based on his Aadhaar and jail records. But amicus curiae Man Mohan Mishra told TOI that his real age was 80, going by the date of birth in the FIR lodged against him and others in 1977.

Lakhan, a resident of Gauraye village in Kaushambi district, had been convicted of murdering a man named Prabhu Saroj during a clash between two groups on Aug 16, 1977. He was arrested shortly after the crime and remained in judicial custody until 1982, when the district and sessions court in Prayagraj handed him and three others a life term.

He moved HC that very year and was mostly out on bail till 2015, when he was re-arrested on charges of violating bail conditions.

Lakhan's release was made possible by the District Legal Services Authority, which pursued his case until the HC overturned his conviction. "We arranged for him to be escorted to his daughter's home in the Sharira police station area after his release from Kaushambi District Jail," said additional district judge Poornima Pranjal, secretary of the DLSA. Recalling his years behind bars, Lakhan said he was never forced to do any prison labour due to his age. "They didn't assign me any work. I lived peacefully with other inmates," he said.

Lakhan spent three years in Naini Central Jail from 2015 onward.