Context
Over the past 11 years, we have secured 31 acquittals for those who were wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death. They lost years of their lives in prison. Their cases are a stark reminder of how India’s criminal justice system strips the accused of their fundamental rights, handing out the death penalty based on evidence that fails in establishing “guilt beyond reasonable doubt”.
Our team’s work over the last decade has been involved with death row prisoners. We have been involved in the acquittal of 31 individuals who had been wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death (aside from 52 commutations). By the time they were acquitted, they had been in prison for an average of 10 years. Over the course of their incarceration, our clients and their families lost a lot more than just time and resources.
In September, 2016, Dhal Singh Dewangan was acquitted by the Supreme Court spending 4 years on the death row. This was our first acquittal. Over the years, colleagues have worked tirelessly over the years in revisiting evidence in these cases. The efforts and rigour of our team (both past and present) in securing these acquittals has only increased with time. We are also deeply thankful to the Advocates On Record and Senior Counsel who worked with us on these cases.
In July 2025, we secured an acquittal for Kattavellai, alias Devakar. A 3-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Karol, and Sandeep Mehta noted that the legislature may consider introducing a law on compensation for people who have been wrongfully convicted.
We began our journey as The Centre on the Death Penalty, with the aim of analysing the death sentence from within the criminal justice system. Back then, we could only speak to incarcerated individuals in a research capacity, unable to help them in any material way. Yet, these interviews became a source of hopefulness for them. This hope became infectious for us as well.
Quotes
Executive Director, Anup Surendranath: Dealing with [prisoners’] expectations [before we turned to pro-bono representation] was tough. We were doing interview after interview. We were using them and not offering anything in return.
Director (Litigation) (Forensic Science), Shreya Rastogi: In a context where there is public clamour for the death penalty often, it is incredibly important to ensure that death row prisoners get the best legal representation possible. We can’t abandon the rule of law in response to intense public hate. These acquittals tell a shocking story about the state of our criminal justice system.
Director (Mental Health) (Mitigation), Maitreyi Misra: When we secured Dhal Singh’s acquittal – our first – we were proud and excited. Over the years, I think more complicated emotions started dawning on us. The state’s disregard for people who are ultimately acquitted was the most terrible aspect to come to terms with. There are no remedies, no schemes, no facilities for prisoners who are ultimately acquitted. They enter yet another uncertain period. There is little ‘relief’ at that label of a convict or a death row prisoner being taken away. It’s a prickly situation.
Senior Mitigation Associate, CP Shruthi: Acquittal brings release from prison but not relief from the stigma, trauma and dehumanisation that accompanies one from life on death row. Individuals often return to families without any savings and often in deep debts, stigma shuts out job opportunities, families are sometimes estranged due to years of being apart and ostracisation from the community and there is trauma of prison life- making rehabilitation extremely daunting.
For media enquiries, please reach out to nihira@nalsar.ac.in.
The Square Circle Clinic, NALSAR 