11 yrs on, man who couldn’t afford lawyer exits jail | Meerut News
MEERUT: For over three decades, Sanjay Kumar’s life was defined by a murder he didn’t commit. Too poor to hire a lawyer, the 60-year-old farmer from UP’s Bulandshahr spent 11 years in jail, awaiting justice that finally came this week — an acquittal for lack of evidence.Kumar was cleared of all charges by the court of additional district judge (ADJ) Mohammad Naseem on Wednesday. His case was taken up by the Legal Aid Defence Counsel System (LADCS) in 2024 after he failed for years to secure private legal help.The case dates back to 1993, when Shakeel Ahmad, a resident of Sankhni village in Jahangirabad, was beaten to death after being caught stealing sugarcane from a field adjoining Sanjay’s. Sanjay was among five men booked for murder. He was arrested in 2014 and remained in jail until his acquittal this week.“The court found that Sanjay was not even in the village when the crime occurred. Sufficient evidence proved his innocence,” said Rajeev Kumar, chief counsel, LADCS Bulandshahr.When TOI spoke to him after his release, Sanjay’s voice carried both relief and quiet devastation. “After spending 11 long years in jail for a crime I didn’t commit, I am finally free,” he said. “Since 1993, my life has been a constant battle — hiding for years, returning home only in secret. When I came back in 2014 for my daughter’s wedding, my own son didn’t recognise me. By then, our 50 bighas of land had been taken over. We had no money left for legal help.”“Those 11 years behind bars taught me the difference between guilt and survival. My real fear wasn’t the prisoners around me — it was that my wife was waiting, my children were growing up, and the world was forgetting that an innocent man was still behind bars,” he said. “Though I’m free today, the years I lost will never return.” Sanjay’s son Kapil Kumar, 26, said the family lived in fear while his father was in jail.
