NEW DELHI: Convict Rasik Chandra Mondal, 105, can now live as a free man as the Supreme Court on Friday made final its earlier order granting bail to him in a 1988 murder case.
Born in 1920 in West Bengal’s Malda district, Mondal was convicted in 1994 at the age of 68 in the murder case and was in jail till November 29, 2024, when the top court granted him bail.
On Friday, a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said that, having regard to the age of the petitioner, it was closing the case and waiving the remaining sentence, if any, in the matter.
Even if the life sentence is not over, he will not be taken back in custody, the CJI said and made the interim bail order of 2024 absolute and final.
“As an interim order, we direct that the petitioner, Rasik Chandra Mondal, will be released on interim bail/parole during the pendency of the present writ petition, on terms and conditions to be fixed by the trial court,” the court had said earlier.
Mondal had age-related health issues, it had noted.
In 2018, the Calcutta High Court dismissed Mondal’s appeal challenging his conviction in the murder case. Later, he moved the apex court, which also dismissed his plea.
In 2020, Mondal, then 99 years old, moved a plea seeking premature release, citing his advanced age and age-related ailments.
In May 2021, the apex court had issued notice to the West Bengal government in the matter.