Judge Releases Prisoner Who Was Sentenced To 83 Years: Blind Letter And Unable To Pay Lawyers

Illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Joe Gratz)

JAKARTA - The Indian court released a convict who has served nine of his 83 years in prison, arguing he is unable to pay a lawyer, calling it a "parodi of justice".

Aslam Sheikh (30) was convicted of 31 cases of theft and has served his sentence in Yerwada prison, Pune, Maharashtra State since 2014.

He was sentenced to 83 years in prison, although the court did not order his sentence to be carried out simultaneously. The sentence for each case ranges from three to six years.

The High Court heard a petition on Monday filed by Shaikh, aiming for his sentence in all 41 cases to be carried out simultaneously.

He also attempted to rule out a fine of 126,400 rupees (US $ 1540) imposed by various courts in those cases.

In his petition, Sheikh said he was wrongly involved in these cases after being arrested in 2014. However, he pleaded guilty to all charges because he was illiteracy, was not used to the legal complexity and was unable to pay lawyers.

He was also unable to pay the fine, so the sentence was added for 10 years.

Reflecting on the situation, Judge Revati Mohite-Dere and Judge Total Godse from the High Court decided, if the man was imprisoned for too long, it would be "an ridicule of justice".

The panel of judges also noted that at the time of his arrest, Shaikh was only 21 years old and was not defended by a lawyer in each case and was also not given legal assistance by the court.

"A total of 93 years and 5 months, throughout his life, without any hope, even to get out of prison. Sentences that are more than what life imprisonment should live for murder cases. If allowed, this of course will lead to a joke against justice," the court said, quoted from The National News July 21.

"All but three violations related to the 2014 to 2015 period. It seems that the applicant is unable to pay the lawyer because of his financial condition and therefore pleaded guilty in all 41 cases," explained the decision.

In addition, the judges also observed that none of the courts considered the punishment policy as a precaution and reform.

"The prison sentence must also have a reformative goal, in this case it should not dampen the enthusiasm of the perpetrators and in reality, the perpetrators must be given the opportunity, depending on the nature of the violation, to improve themselves," explained the judges.

They added that there would be a serious miscarriage of justice if the court failed to intervene and carry out its policies.

"The courts exist to uphold justice and this is one of the cases that requires our intervention," the panel of judges said.

The court further noted that Sheikh had served nine years in prison, ordering his release in all cases taking into account the time he had spent in prison.