A 104-year-old man was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna on Friday. Rasik Chandra Mondal, born in 1920 in West Bengal’s Malda district, is serving life term for a murder he committed in 1988.
"As an interim order, we direct that the petitioner, Rasik Chandra Mondal, will be released on interim bail/parole during the pendency of the present writ petition, on terms and conditions to be fixed by the trial Court", Bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar said in the order.
Mondal was convicted in 1994 in a 1988 murder case, when he was 68 years, and serving a life sentence. His appeal against conviction was dismissed by the Calcutta HC in 2018. He then moved SC which too dismissed it.
Mandal then filed a fresh appeal in SC in 2020, when he 99 years old for premature release citing old age and ailments.
A bench of Justices A Abdul Nazeer (since retired) and Justice Sanjiv Khanna on May 7, 2021 issued notice to West Bengal government and asked superintendent of the correctional home where he was lodged "to file a status report regarding the physical condition and health of Mandal, who has been in jail since January 14, 2019".
The case got listed on Friday before a bench of CJI Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar. When his health status was asked, West Bengal States lawyer Astha Sharma told Bench that he of course had health issues but otherwise in a stable condition and that he would celebrate his 104th birthday shortly.
The court proceeded to grant him interim bail, largely taking into consideration his age.