PRAYAGRAJ, Dec. 25 -- Observing that his admission of guilt was likely driven by a fear for his life, the Allahabad high court has set aside the conviction of a man in a dacoity case and paved the way for his immediate release after almost 24 years of incarceration.

The appellant was awarded life imprisonment by the trial court in 2002.

The trial court had then rendered the verdict solely based on his admission in his statements recorded under section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

Finding fault with the same, a division bench of Justice JJ Munir and Justice Sanjiv Kumar ruled that a conviction could not be premised solely on an admission made in a statement under section 313 of the CrPC, especially when the prosecution fai...