Lucknow: Taking cognisance of media reports, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police (DGP) to submit a detailed report on why innocent Vishnu Tiwari languished in jail for 20 years within six weeks.
The NHRC has sought a reply from the Yogi Adityanath government to submit action taken against irresponsible public servants in the case and what steps have been taken to rehabilitate and compensate Vishnu Tiwari, who was found innocent by the Allahabad High Court after 20 years.
The NHRC also slammed the Sentence Review Board for sitting over cases in which innocent people continue to serve sentences without any review or legal aid. It seems that the board remained dysfunctional and ineffective. There are several cases of inmates completing 75 years of age and die within jail without any review of their cases, the commission added.
The NHRC also sought to know why Vishnu Tiwari was not released on parole when his father and brother died despite his conduct in jail was good.
Vishnu Tiwari was released on Wednesday after serving 20 years in jail for a crime he never committed. He was released on the January 28, 2021 on the order of the Allahabad High Court which found him innocent.
The court verdict had also directed the Law Secretary to ask all district magistrates in the state to review cases of inmates serving 14 years in jail under Rules 432 and 433 of the CrPC.
