NEW DELHI: The UP government has informed the Supreme Court that it has rejected the latest premature release plea of gangster Om Prakash Srivastava, alias Babloo Srivastava, who is serving a life sentence for the 1993 murder of an additional customs collector.
Additional Advocate General Garima Prasad told a two-judge bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih, that the gangster was convicted of serious offences, including under the anti-terror law.
She contended that Srivastava approached the court with “unclean hands” without disclosing the status of the pleas he had filed for premature release. “He has been filing petitions for remission every now and then. His first petition was dismissed in 2016,” she said.
In its November 8 order, the bench asked Srivastava’s counsel to file the orders and case records of all the petitions he has filed to date.
Srivastava, currently incarcerated in Bareilly Central jail, has sought direction from the apex court for the state government to consider his plea for premature release. The latest petition, which was rejected on November 6, was filed on June 24, 2021.
Once associated with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, Srivastava eventually became his enemy. He was caught in Singapore by investigating agencies and extradited to India in 1995. He was wanted in 42 cases, including murder and abduction.
On September 30, 2008, the gangster was sentenced to a life term by a special TADA court in Kanpur in connection with the 1993 murder of customs officer LD Arora in Allahabad. The case was handed over to the CBI.
Initially, the don was lodged in Naini Central Jail and then on June 11, 1999, he was transferred to the Bareilly jail.
Srivastava asserted that he has served over 26 years in prison and has good conduct, making him entitled to premature release as per the Uttar Pradesh government’s policy.
Petition rejected earlier
Om Prakash Srivastava, also known as Babloo Srivastava, who is currently lodged in the Bareilly Central jail, has sought direction from the Supreme Court to the Uttar Pradesh government to consider his petition for premature release. The latest petition, which was rejected on November 6, was filed on June 24, 2021.