The Nitish Kumar-headed Bihar government today notified the release of 27 prisoners including former MP Anand Mohan Singh who was convicted in the 1994 murder of IAS officer G Krishnaiah. The release comes within days of amending the Bihar Prison Manual by the Nitish Kumar government that triggered a massive opposition backlash.

Mohan is already out on parole for the engagement of his son and Chief Minister  Nitish Kumar and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav attended the engagement ceremony on Monday and met Mohan who was present. The order to release him came on Monday as well, which Anand Mohan’s family has described as a ‘perfect gift’ from the administration. Anand Mohan spent little over 15 years in jail and will formally walk free in a day’s time, 29 years after the murder.

G Krishnaiah, then Gopalganj District Magistrate, was shot dead on December 5, 1994 in Muzzafarpur. As many as 10 witnesses deposed in court that Bhutkan Shukla shot District Magistrate G Krishnaiyyah Bihar on the orders of Anand Mohan. A trial court sentenced him to death while the High Court and the Supreme Court said he should face rigorous imprisonment for life only because Anand Mohan did not fire the shots himself.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav attended the engagement function of jailed Former MP Anand Mohan Singh’s son and RJD MLA Chetan Anand.

Earlier today, Bihar govt issued notification regarding the release of 27 prisoners including Former Lok Sabha MP Anand Mohan… pic.twitter.com/r7zHb5TSHn

— ANI (@ANI) April 24, 2023

Mohan, a former Lok Sabha MP, is a Rajput leader  and since his son is an RJD MLA,  the release is being seen as a political move ever since the JD(U) and RJD joined hands last year and there has been pressure on the alliance to release Anand Mohan from jail.

Earlier this month, the Bihar government had removed the clause which had forbidden the remission of jail term for those convicted of murdering a public servant on duty.

“In light of the Bihar state sentence remission council meeting on April 20, the decision was taken for the release of prisoners having served actual sentence of 14 years or sentence of 20 years with remission,” the state government’s notification said.

The Nitish Kumar government has come in for severe criticism over the move.

BJP’s IT Cell head Amit Malviya slammed Nitish Kumar over the decision. “Can someone who is leaning on a criminal syndicate, to hold on to power, be the face of India, even as opposition leader?” Mr Malviya tweeted on Monday.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati criticised the release of the former MP as “anti-Dalit” and asked Bihar Chief Minister to reverse his decision.

“The move by the Nitish government to prepare the release of Anand Mohan after changing rules in the case of the brutal murder of extremely honest IAS officer G Krishnaiah, who belonged to a poor Dalit family from Andhra Pradesh’s Mehboobnagar (now in Telangana), is being discussed for negative and anti-Dalit reasons in the whole country,” Ms Mayawati tweeted on Sunday.