Cuttack: In a landmark judgement, the Orissa High Court on Friday ordered the immediate release of a man who has been serving a 20-year jail term without any offence.
The man, Sadhu Pradhan, was arrested and wrongly convicted of the murder of a woman in 1997.
According to the case records, police had recovered the body one Dhobani Khatua from a nullah at Kantapada in Kodala block of Ganjam district on October 25, 1997. The victim’s gold ornaments were found missing. Later, police arrested Pradhan for murdering the woman.
The second additional district judge court, Berhampur had acquitted Pradhan in the theft case, but sentenced him to life imprisonment for murder. Pradhan then challenged the lower court order in the High Court.
While hearing Pradhan’s petition, the HC came to know that the lower court had convicted him on the basis of a statement of a witness who was a minor boy.
The HC rejected the lower court’s verdict and ordered Pradhan to be released immediately.
