The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to evaluate the potential early release of convicted gangster Om Prakash Srivastava, commonly known as Babloo Srivastava. Serving a life sentence for the 1993 murder of customs officer L.D. Arora in Allahabad, Srivastava has been in prison for over 28 years.
The directive was issued by a bench comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh, who ordered the state to expedite the consideration of Srivastava’s remission plea under sub-section (1) of Section 473 of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023. The court mandated that the decision be made within two months, highlighting the need for a prompt review based on Srivastava’s long incarceration and behavior in prison.
Srivastava had initially sought relief under the United Provinces Prisoners’ Release on Probation Act, 1938, which was denied due to its stringent requirements regarding a convict’s conduct and likelihood to abstain from crime post-release. The Supreme Court noted that while the rejection under the 1938 Act was justified, the provisions under the BNSS offered a different and potentially more lenient pathway for considering remission.
The gangster, who was once associated with underworld figure Dawood Ibrahim, has been embroiled in numerous criminal cases, including murder and abduction. Arrested in Singapore in 1995, Srivastava was extradited to India and has been moving through the Indian judicial system since. His conviction was upheld by the Supreme Court after a trial by a special TADA court in Kanpur.
In their order, the justices also directed the relevant authorities to forward their opinions on Srivastava’s release to the Central government for a concurrent review, ensuring that all procedural steps are expedited in alignment with the directive.
