Mani Kumar Rai, of 3 Block Number in Shreeantu VDC-8 has 50 days of his life wasted in District Prison due to sheer negligence of the District Court and police. Recognizing the negligence, Division bench of Ramesh Pokharel and Madhav Prasad Pokharel of the Ilam Appellate Court has ordered for his release on February 26. Mani was arrested on January 3 by the police as per the order of the District Court instead of arresting Sachen Rai of the same place who was sentenced to prison for 10 years after being convicted of murder his friend. Sachen remains absconding for the last 34 years after murder his friend and a worker at a local tea estate, Harka Prasad Gurung in 1980. Mani Kumar was arrested on November 28, 2001, for murdering his wife on August 4, 2001.

He was released on September 23, 2006, after getting exempting on his prison sentence. Following his arrest on January 3, Mani Kumar filed a habeas corpus writ at Ilam Appellate Court on February 24 naming District Court, District Police Office and District Prison as defendants. Appellate Court sought written submission from the defendants within 24 hours. Advocate Bir Bahadur Khadka, also the chairperson of Human Rights Forum, Ilam said he was released following the written submission by those three offices. Earlier, the District Court had issued a detention notice to him with an order to imprisoning him till January 5, 2025. Khadka said that though proved innocent and his detention a mistake, Mani Kumar would not get any compensation from the state as it lacks clear provision on compensation in case of wrongful detention by the state.

Kokila Dhakal