Supreme Court has issued notices to Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh on petitions filed by three men acquitted from death row after spending years in prison, seeking compensation for wrongful conviction and violation of their fundamental rights under Article 21.

The petitioners have sought compensation for years of wrongful incarceration and the destruction of their lives and families.

The lead petitioner, Ramkirat Munilal Goud, spent 12 years in prison, six of them on death row, before being acquitted by the Supreme Court in May 2025. His conviction, the Court had then held, was the result of a “flawed and tainted investigation” by the Maharashtra Police.

Goud was convicted in March 2019 for murder and rape under IPC sections 302, 363, 376(2)(i), 201 and under the POCSO Act, with the Bombay High Court confirming his death sentence in November 2021.

 In acquitting him earlier this year, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court had found that police officials fabricated evidence, suppressed forensic reports, and created false witnesses “because a sensational case was not being solved.”

Goud’s plea details how his family was reduced to destitution during his incarceration. His wife mortgaged their land and jewellery to pay for legal expenses, while his two elder children dropped out of school. Since his release, Goud has been struggling to rebuild his life, surviving on irregular daily-wage work.

The second petitioner, Kattavellai, who was sentenced to death in Tamil Nadu, was acquitted after the Supreme Court noted the absence of credible evidence and observed that India needs a law for compensating wrongful incarceration.

The third petitioner, Sanjay from Uttar Pradesh, was acquitted in a similar case involving the death of a minor girl after the Court held that “there cannot be a moral conviction in law.”

All three pleas rely on the Law Commission’s 277th Report (2018) recommending a statutory framework for compensating victims of wrongful prosecution. They seek recognition of a public law remedy against the State for miscarriage of justice, arguing that mere acquittal cannot undo the violation of dignity, liberty, and livelihood.

“By the time the Petitioner was released, he had spent 12 years in prison, 6 of which were on death row. The Petitioner has suffered a grave and severe violation of his fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, on account of being falsely accused of heinous offences, illegally arrested, being made the subject of an illegal and tainted investigation, unfair prosecution, and suffering 12 years of wrongful incarceration, for which the Petitioner ought to be appropriately compensated by the Respondent State as it has completely destroyed the Petitioner’s life, his reputation and his family, with the latter reduced to abject penury and destitution, with the sole earner languishing in jail on false charges”, Goud’s plea states.

A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta issued notice to the respective States on the three writ petitions and requested that Attorney General for India R Venkataramani or Solicitor General Tushar Mehta assist it on the issue of compensation.

“Issue notice, returnable on 24th November, 2025. We would request the learned Attorney General or learned Solicitor General to assist this Court in these matters. Registry may, accordingly, inform both the Law Officers within a week from today along with a copy of this order”, the Court ordered.

Ramkirat Goud’s writ petition raises the question of whether a person who has been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned due to an illegal investigation and fabricated evidence is entitled to compensation under Article 21 for the violation of his fundamental right to life and personal liberty.

 The plea invokes the Supreme Court’s earlier decisions recognising a public law remedy for State liability in cases of illegal detention and miscarriage of justice.

Senior Advocates Gopal Subramaniam, Gopal Sankarnarayanan and Anitha Shenoy appeared for the petitioners. They were assisted by Advocates Mihir Samson, Shreya Rastogi, Yash S. Vijay(AOR), Khush Aalam Singh, Navleen Kaur Saluja, Pavan Bhushan, Raghav Kohli, Adnan Yousuf, J.S. George, Shikhar Aggarwal, Prateek K. Chadha(AOR), Trisha Chandran, Madhunika Varadarajan, Vishal Sinha, Adnan Yousuf Bhat, Sreekar Aechuri, Surbhi Soni, Aniket Chauhaan, Maulshree Pathak(AOR), and Kavana Rao.

The Square Circle Clinic, NALSAR University of Law, provided legal assistance to all three accused in their criminal appeals.

Case no. – Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 420 of 2025 and two connected cases.

Case Title – Ramkirat Munilal Goud v. State of Maharashtra