New Delhi: The Association for the Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) here on Thursday notified in a press release that it has secured bail for 28 individuals from the Madhya Pradesh High Court in the matter of Kaleem and Ors vs. the State of Madhya Pradesh.
The case involves a communal clash that took place on July 30, 2014, in the Imlipura area of Khandwa district, which resulted in the conviction of 40 individuals by the sessions Court recently. Many of these convicted individuals were minors at the time of the incident and now face severe threats to their health, well-being, and future prospects.
The convicted individuals were charged with pelting stones on a police team, under sections 307 (Attempt to murder) and 188 (Disobedience to an order lawfully promulgated by a public servant) and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). A local court in Madhya Pradesh sentenced them to seven years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 6,500 on each of them.
However, families of the convicts have maintained that it was a Friday and all men of the Ghaspur locality were in the mosque at the time of the incident to offer prayers. Some miscreants pelted a few stones in the heat of the moment on the police, but there was no common intention or plan for such an incident, and subsequently, many innocents were falsely implicated in the case.
According to Barkat Ali Khan President APCR Telangana Chapter most of the families of the convicted individuals come from poor marginalized backgrounds and have lost their sole breadwinners soon after this conviction. “APCR is providing legal representation to 28 individuals in this case through Advocates Kabeer Paul and Sankalp Kochar in Criminal Appeal No. 1303 of 2023 before Jabalpur bench of MP High Court. The appellants have appealed their convictions, and their counsel argued that the trial court wrongly convicted them of the offences, citing several omissions and contradictions in the prosecution’s evidence. The appellants have been in jail since the last four months after the judgment came on December 20, 2023 , and their hearing of this appeal is likely to take a long time,’’ stated, in press release issued by the APCR.
After considering the contentions of both parties, the Madhya Pradesh High Court allowed the appellants’ bail application and directed the suspension of their jail sentence during the pendency of their appeal. The appellants are to be released on bail upon furnishing a personal bond in the sum of Rs. 50,000 each, with one surety each in the like amount.
Mr. Barkat Ali Khan President APCR Telangana told that we are committed to bringing justice and human rights to the forefront in this matter and invite all concerned individuals and organizations to support this cause.