17 years of fighting a case of ‘mistaken identity’
It is disturbing to know about Bablu Shiekh, a man who has had to fight a legal battle for 17 long years before he was finally cleared of charges for a crime he did not commit. According to reports in this daily, it was a case of mistaken identity with Bablu Shiekh being taken for Sree Babu, an accused in a case. It resulted in Bablu Sheikh being in jail for two months after which he managed to secure bail but had to fight the case falsely filed against him for 17 years. This gross injustice reminds us of the sensational Jaha Alam case in which an innocent man had to languish in jail for three years after being falsely accused in 26 corruption cases because of negligence of ACC officials in carrying out a proper investigation. Bablu Sheikh's predicament was the result of major gaps in the process through which he was arrested, the case was filed and investigated.
According to the observations of the Natore District and Session Judge, several individuals must bear responsibility for such a travesty of justice. It includes the police official who mistakenly arrested Bablu Sheikh instead of the actual accused Sree Babu without ascertaining his identity, the officer-in-charge of the police station for signing in the challan book without ensuring that the right person had been arrested and the investigation officers who did not bother to verify facts and other details of the victim and accused when they submitted the charge sheet. The defence lawyer also did not submit any facts or documents before the court when he sought bail for Bablu Sheikh in the wrong name.
All this points out to the possibility of many such innocent victims being arrested and having to fight long drawn out, expensive battles before they can be absolved of the crimes (if at all) they have been falsely accused of. People like Jaha Alam and Bablu Sheikh, both from marginalised sections of the society, have had to endure unimaginable suffering and hardship for the "mistakes" of irresponsible officers. It is therefore incumbent on the government to conduct an investigation into such cases where individuals have been falsely accused, arrested and maybe even languishing in jail because of negligence or knavery of those police officers responsible for carrying out the initial investigation and submitting the charge sheet. Those responsible for such uncalled for suffering of innocent individuals must be held accountable.
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