After a major miscarriage of justice in the history of Britain, 39 sub-postmasters were exonerated in April in one day after years of legal battle and wrongful imprisonment in some heart wrenching cases.
Last week, Asian Voice spoke exclusively to ex-sub-postmistress Seema Misra who was pregnant while she served jail term for a crime she didn’t commit. In the interview, Misra went on to mention that there were many families of wrongfully convicted people who couldn’t send their children to universities or colleges due to major financial setbacks and shame due to the Post Office Scandal.
One such story of a father of four has surfaced online. Pramod Kalia’s mother and sister were unaware of his 20-year long battle with the Post Office after being wrongfully accused of theft.
“After running a bustling Post Office in Orpington for 11 years, things began to go wrong for Mr Kalia. The Post Office installed the new Horizon computer software and he couldn't make the books balance. Eventually in 2001 there was a hole of £22,000 in the accounts,” the BBC reported.
Much like Seema Misra, Kalia was blamed by the Post Office and was advised by the representative of his union to find the money to fill the hole quickly to keep it out of the courts and avoid jail. Like Misra, he also hid this information from his family.
"I had to go to my mother to tell her I desperately needed this money, but I didn't give her the reason. She didn't ask. So she got me a cheque from her building society account, which I paid to the Post Office,” he told BBC News.
A Post Office spokesman said: "Post Office sincerely is extremely sorry for historical failures and the impact these have had on the lives of people affected. We are taking determined action to fully address the past and have undertaken wholesale reforms to prevent such events ever happening again."
Seema Misra had told Asian Voice that an apology won’t suffice and she demands a full public enquiry of the case, even though nothing can compensate for the trauma, injustice and time lost for hundreds of innocent employees who became victims of the Post Office Scandal.
