It was through the media that Arun Pratap Singh learnt of the Supreme Court’s direction to the Uttar Pradesh government to pay him Rs 6 lakh as compensation, for his six-year-plus imprisonment in a case, in which he was acquitted. The money couldn’t have been more handy, says a “thankful” Singh. On October 10, barely a week after he had finally found a job after his release from prison, Singh was hit by a car on his way home in Agra, leaving him bedridden.

Singh, 35, was arrested on November 13, 2019, on charges that he had kidnapped Dharmendra Tiwari on October 18 that year for ransom, murdered him, burnt his body and hid his skeletal remains.

In its order acquitting him on June 6 this year, an Agra court said the prosecution had failed to establish any link in the chain of circumstantial evidence against Singh, or prove beyond reasonable doubt that he was guilty of the alleged offence.

Hearing a special leave petition that was filed by Singh while his case was pending in the Agra court, the Supreme…