Indian-Origin Woman Seema Misra Falsely Imprisoned in UK While 8 Weeks Pregnant

Seema Misra’s conviction was overturned in April 2021 by the Court of Appeal, ruling that she had been wrongly imprisoned over 12 years ago for the theft of GBP 75,000 from her Post Office branch in Surrey. Former Post Office Managing Director David Smith apologized during the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry for a congratulatory email he sent after Misra’s conviction, acknowledging that it would have caused substantial distress.

However, Misra rejected the apology, emphasizing the impact of her imprisonment while pregnant. Misra was sent to Bronzefield prison in south-east England and served four-and-a-half months, later giving birth to her second son while wearing an electronic tag.

The inquiry revealed that Misra had been used as a “test case,” leading to more confidence in the faulty Horizon IT system, causing her further distress. The UK government has since paid out millions in compensation to impacted sub-postmasters, many of them of Indian heritage.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to address the historic scandal and introduced the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill, aiming to blanket exoneration for convictions based on erroneous Horizon evidence. A public inquiry into the case is ongoing and is expected to conclude in July.

The Horizon system, developed by Fujitsu, has been the subject of controversy since its rollout in 1999.