New Delhi, Sept. 9 -- The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the state of Madhya Pradesh to pay Rs.25 lakh as compensation to a man, who languished in jail for more than four years and seven months beyond his lawful sentence. A bench of justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan also directed the Madhya Pradesh State Legal Services Authority to conduct a comprehensive survey across all prisons in the state to ensure that no other prisoner continues to remain behind bars despite having either completed their sentence or been granted bail. The bench, which had earlier called prolonged incarceration of Sohan Singh - a rape convict - "quite shocking," came down heavily on the state for its systemic failure. The bench noted that such over-incarceration amounts to a grave violation of fundamental rights and cannot be condoned. The case had initially come to the court's attention earlier this year, when Singh petitioned against his prolonged imprisonment despite a 2017 order of the Madhya Pradesh high court reducing his life sentence to seven years. On Monday, however, the state's counsel, senior advocate Nachiketa Joshi, clarified that Singh had been on bail for some time during the period, and the extra incarceration amounted to approximately 4.7 years. Despite the clear modification of sentence, Singh remained in jail until June 6, 2025 - nearly eight years after the high court's order and well beyond the maximum punishment he could have lawfully served. It was only after he approached the Supreme Court that the matter came to light....