Allegation that Dara Sena raised provocative slogans outside Keonjhar Jail is baseless and the biggest lie – Mukesh Jain
New Delhi
*Journalist Usha Mahana from New Delhi*
National President of Dara Sena, Shri Mukesh Jain, while addressing journalists at the Media Park of the Supreme Court, said that today we had hoped that on the birthday of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the architect of New India and Vishwakarma, Odisha would also receive the good news of Dara Bhai’s release. However, everyone was disappointed when the Odisha Government’s Sentence Remission Board informed the Supreme Court that it would not release Dara Singh because 200–250 Dara Sena workers had allegedly raised provocative slogans outside Keonjhar District Jail on August 15.
Shri Jain described the written statement submitted by the Sentence Remission Board before the Supreme Court as the biggest lie. He said that it was yet another false claim of the kind that the Odisha Government has allegedly made 15 times before the Supreme Court over the past two and a half years, repeatedly asking for two weeks’ time to release Dara Bhai. He further alleged that the Supreme Court was even misled by citing the illness of a lawyer as a reason for seeking additional time.
Addressing the journalists, advocate Shri A.P. Singh, counsel for Dharma Rakshak Shri Dara Singh, said that the allegation made by the Odisha Government against Dara Sena was not only baseless but also ridiculous. He stated that Section 55 of the Indian Penal Code provides for the release of prisoners serving life imprisonment before completing 14 years under specified circumstances. He further said that Section 474 of the new Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita also provides for the release of life-term prisoners after they have served seven years, subject to the applicable legal provisions. He added that even a prisoner whose death sentence has been commuted to life imprisonment can, under specified circumstances, be released after 14 years.
However, Shri A.P. Singh said that Dharma Rakshak Shri Dara Singh, who has been imprisoned for the past 26 years and seven months, is a victim of injustice. He stated that at the next hearing on October 9, they would not only expose what they describe as falsehoods in the Sentence Remission Board’s submission, but would also inform the Supreme Court how the Odisha Government has allegedly registered four separate cases against Dara Sena President Shri Mukesh Jain in connection with the same alleged offence, thereby violating the fundamental right guaranteed under Article 20(2) of the Constitution.
Clarifying his statement, Shri A.P. Singh told journalists that during the COVID-19 period, when the Supreme Court had imposed restrictions on the Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra, Odisha Police arrested Dara Sena President Shri Mukesh Jain, alleging that a message had been sent from his WhatsApp account stating that Dara Sena would go to the residence of then Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde and assault him with shoes because of the Supreme Court’s restrictions on the Rath Yatra.
According to Shri A.P. Singh, even after the Supreme Court subsequently lifted the restrictions on the Rath Yatra, the then Odisha Government allegedly registered a case 15 days after the Rath Yatra, claiming that there was a possibility of riots in Balasore, Bhadrak and Cuttack. He alleged that Dara Sena President Shri Mukesh Jain was arrested from Delhi and kept in Balasore Jail for 14 months. He further alleged that a conspiracy was also hatched to kill Shri Jain at Delhi Airport.
Dara Sena appealed to Chief Minister Shri Mohan Charan Majhi to ensure compliance with the laws relating to the release of prisoners and to kindly order the immediate release of Dharma Rakshak Shri Dara Singh.