Uma Krishnaiah, widow of slain IAS officer G Krishnaiah, on Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to list her plea challenging the premature release of Bihar gangster-turned-politician Anand Mohan Singh from prison and said that she has faith that the judiciary will direct Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to reverse the amendment of the Bihar Prison Manual which necessitated the release.

Anand Mohan was released from Saharsa prison on April 27, after the Nitish Kumar government amended the Bihar Prison Manual 2012 thus allowing the release of 27 convicts including the gangster-turned-politician. Uma Krishnaiah had moved the top court last month which on May 1 agreed to list her plea to be heard on May 8.

“It is a very good sign. I have confidence in the judiciary. They will do justice to this case and they will direct the Chief Minister to reverse this order,” the petitioner and the killed IAS’ wife said while speaking to ANI.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud agreed to list on May 8.

In her plea, Uma Krishnaiah said that Bihar has specially brought about an amendment to the Bihar Prison Manual 2012 with retrospective effect vide Amendment dated April 10 2023, in order to ensure that the convict, Anand Mohan be granted the benefit of remission.

“Amendment dated April 10, 2023, is against the Notification dated December 12, 2002, as well as against the public policy and has resulted in the demoralisation of the Civil Servants in the state, therefore, it suffers from the vice of malafide and is manifestly arbitrarily and is contrary to the idea of a welfare state,” she said in the plea.

Gangster-turned-politician Anand Mohan Singh a convict in the then District Magistrate G Krishnaiah case, walked free from Saharsa jail before the break of dawn on Thursday, April 27.

He was serving a life sentence in the 1994 murder of then Gopalganj District Magistrate G Krishnaiah. After the Bihar Government amended the rules of the Jail manual, an official notification stated that 27 prisoners who have served 14 years or 20 years in jail have been ordered to be released.

The gangster-turned-politician was earlier on parole of 15 days to attend the engagement ceremony of his MLA son Chetan Anand.

He had returned to Saharsa jail on April 26 following the end of his parole period.

Anand Mohan was convicted in the murder case of Gopalganj District Magistrate G Krishnaiah on December 5, 1994, in Muzaffarpur. Krishnaiah was killed by a mob allegedly provoked by Anand Mohan Singh.

He was dragged out of his official car and lynched.

Anand Mohan was sentenced to death by a trial court in 2007. A year later, the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by the Patna High Court. Mohan then challenged the verdict in Supreme Court but no relief has been granted yet and he has remained in Saharsa jail since 2007.