A division bench comprising Justice K T Thomas and Justice M Srinivasan, which had stayed execution of the arrest warrant issued against Phoolan Devi by Kanpur (dehat) special court on August 4, dismissed the petition as withdrawn after her counsel pleaded for withdrawal of the petition.

Phoolan Devi had alleged that the Kanpur court without any cogent reason dismissed an application filed by the State to withdraw the case against her even though she had undergone 11 years of imprisonment, and had issued the warrant. The Allahabad High Court had rejected her appeal.

The trial court had said that the public prosecutor ``does not seem to have exercised his discretion properly (while filing the application to withdraw the case against Phoolan) and appears to have acted under thedirection of the State government only...''

Phoolan Devi along with 12 others had surrendered before Gwalior jail superintendent on February 12, 1983. Surrender of Phoolan was negotiated by Arjun Singh, the then chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, and it was promised that she would be released after eight years of incarceration, the petition said.