Indian-origin victim of UK’s Post Office scandal refuses to accept apology | Global News

Seema Misra, an Indian-origin former manager of a Post Office in England, has rejected the apology of a former boss of the government-owned entity during an ongoing public inquiry into an accounting scandal that led to her wrongful imprisonment over a decade ago.

Misra, now 47, had her conviction quashed in April 2021 after being accused of stealing GBP 75,000 from her Post Office branch in Surrey where she was the sub-postmistress. During Thursday’s hearings for the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry in London, former Post Office Managing Director David Smith apologized for a congratulatory email he sent after Misra’s conviction.

However, Misra, who was eight weeks pregnant at the time of her imprisonment, rejected the apology, stating that it came many years after her ordeal and that nobody came to apologize when her conviction was overturned. She spent four-and-a-half months in Bronzefield prison in south-east England and later gave birth to her second son while wearing an electronic tag.

The UK government, which owns Post Office Ltd, has paid out millions in compensation to hundreds of sub-postmasters impacted by the faulty Horizon software. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged action in the historic scandal, with a new law introduced to quash convictions brought about by erroneous Horizon evidence.

The public inquiry into the case is expected to conclude in July, shedding light on the controversial Horizon system developed by Fujitsu, which led to the wrongful accusations against sub-postmasters, many of whom are of Indian heritage.