Seema Misra, an Indian-Origin Woman, Unjustly Imprisoned in the UK While 8-Weeks Pregnant

Seema Misra, now 47, recently had her convictions overturned in April 2021. The Court of Appeal ruled that she had been wrongfully imprisoned over 12 years ago after being accused of stealing GBP 75,000 from her Post Office branch in Surrey, where she worked as the sub-postmistress. During the recent hearings for the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry in London, former Post Office Managing Director David Smith issued an apology for a congratulatory email he had sent after Misra’s conviction. He acknowledged that the email may have caused distress to Misra and her family, expressing deep regret for the impact.

Misra, addressing reporters later, dismissed the apology, stating that it came many years after her ordeal, and emphasizing the need for an apology to her youngest son. She highlighted the emotional toll of her imprisonment, particularly during her pregnancy, and the absence of any apologies at the time her conviction was overturned. After being sent to prison and serving four-and-a-half months, Misra later gave birth to her second son while wearing an electronic tag. She expressed her anger and frustration at being used as a “test case” for the faulty Horizon IT accounting system, as revealed during the inquiry.

The UK government, as the formal owner of the Post Office Ltd, has compensated numerous sub-postmasters impacted by the defective Horizon software, many of whom were of Indian heritage. Earlier this year, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged action in response to the historic scandal that wrongly accused sub-postmasters of fraud. A new law introduced in Parliament, the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill, aims to provide blanket exoneration for convictions based on erroneous Horizon evidence. Additionally, a public inquiry, expected to conclude in July, is underway to further investigate the case.

The controversial Horizon system, developed by the Japanese company Fujitsu and first implemented in 1999 for various post office tasks, including accounting and stocktaking, has raised significant concerns due to its impact on individuals like Seema Misra.