Caste violence took place in 1990, the lower court had sentenced 5 years sentence this year. Now the High Court has given relief on the appeal of most of the convicts who are above 65 years of age.
Prayagraj: In an important order, the Allahabad High Court has granted bail to 32 people convicted in the 35-year-old caste violence case of Agra. The lower court had sentenced all of them to five years in May this year, after which they were in jail.
Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav gave this verdict on August 28 while hearing the criminal appeal filed by convict Jaidev and 31 others.
According to media reports, this case is related to the caste violence that took place in Kagarol police station area of Agra district in 1990. After a long legal process, an Agra court convicted all the accused on May 28 this year and sentenced them to five years of imprisonment.
In the High Court, the counsel for the appellants argued that his clients have been wrongly implicated in the case. He argued that there were serious contradictions in the statements of about 27 witnesses produced by the prosecution, which were ignored by the trial court. The counsel also said that the trial court did not properly evaluate the evidence and wrongly sentenced the convicts.
The court was also told that most of the appellants are above 65 years of age and are suffering from various health problems. The counsel stressed that all the accused were on bail during the trial and never misused their liberty. They have been continuously in jail since May 28, 2025. Since there is no possibility of final hearing on their appeal in the near future, they should be released on bail till the appeal is pending.
During the hearing, it also came to light that one of the appellants, 95-year-old Devi Singh (appellant no. 21), has already been granted short-term bail by the court vide an order dated August 4, 2025.
After hearing all the parties, the court said, “Keeping in view the fact that final disposal of the appeal may take some time, the appellants are released on bail without making any comment on the merits of the case.”
Rajan Chaudhary
Courtesy : Hindi News