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 CrPC, especially when the prosecution failed to adduce any corroborative or incriminating evidence. The court termed the incarceration of the appellant Azad Khan as "sad", and noted that his so-called admission of guilt was likely driven by a fear for his life rather than a genuine confession. The court also noted that the appellant had no assistance of an advocate and was not offered or provided any legal aid, which violated his right to a fair trial guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution (right to life and personal liberty) and also constituted a violation of section 304 of the CrPC, which mandates free legal aid at the state's expense for accused in trials. In February 2002, the appellant was convicted under section 395 (dacoity) and 397 (robbery or dacoity, with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) by the special judge (DAA)/additional sessions judge, Mainpuri. It was alleged that in 2000, the appellant, along with 10-15 miscreants, entered an informant's house, assaulted his family members and looted cash and jewellery. During the incident, the miscreants allegedly opened fire and injured three people. During the trial, Azad Khan's case was separated from other accused after he filed a confession application. Later, the trial court observed that the accused had admitted his guilt and acknowledged that he was one of the members of the gang who committed the dacoity and, thus, he was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for life. Subsequently, challenging his conviction, he moved the high court. The high court scrutinised the trial record and found that the appellant had made as many as seven confession applications wherein he expressed a fear that he would be killed by the informant in collusion with the police if he were released. The court noted that he essentially prayed to remain in jail to save his life and, thus, it remarked that his admission of guilt under section 313 CrPC could not be said to be free from any fear or pressure. The court found fault with the trial judge for failing to notice that the appellant was confessing out of fear for his life. The court in its judgment, dated December 19, set aside the conviction and sentence and acquitted Azad Khan of all charges. He has been directed to be released forthwith.htc...