Bihar’s decision to release convicted gangster Anand Mohan Singh from jail has birthed an awkward situation only made possible by the shifting tides of electoral politics — an administration avowedly committed to social justice and upliftment of marginalised groups granting remission to an upper-caste criminal serving a life term for the grisly murder of a young Dalit bureaucrat. Mr Singh still retains considerable political influence, especially among his Rajput community, and will no doubt prove electorally useful in the 2024 general elections, and the state polls scheduled the year after. But the choice to tweak regulations to enable his release may end up hurting Nitish Kumar’s carefully crafted image of being a good administrator and signal the return of baahubali (strongman) politics to the state.
Mr Singh was serving a life term for the murder of district magistrate G Krishnaiah, who was lynched in 1994. Before the Patna high court and the Supreme Court, Bihar pushed for the maximum sentence. It must explain what changed between then and April 10, when the authorities removed the “murderer of a government servant on duty” category from the category of crimes that rendered prisoners ineligible for remission. The government has refuted Opposition allegations that the motive behind the decision was purely political. But the development further cements the perception that obscure rules are being weaponised unethically by governments of all ideological shades for political expediency. Whether it be the controversial release of the men who raped Bilkis Bano or the gangster who killed a young officer to send a message, such incidents subvert the rule of law and erode due process. Politicians must reconsider such tactics.
