He’s a really lucky man, Sada Curpen. Must have been born under a very luck star indeed. Well, I suppose it depends which way you look at it some might say – what an unlucky bloke that Sada Curpen is. Deprived of his freedom for nearly three years. Falsely accused of murder. Detained at the high security prison La Bastille, under constant supervision. Reputation gone to the dogs. Tough luck indeed.

But it’s all a matter of perspective, isn’t it? From mine, Curpen has very good karma. Suspected of drug trafficking and arrested for murder, he gets sent to La Bastille. At La Bastille, he finds that the term high security prison is a cover for high luxury detention. He has his own cell, he has access to family and friends from France and from Mauritius, he is looked after by a team of prison officers favourable to him, he is sent parcels from abroad and he can also send parcels whenever and wherever he likes.

Now, after nearly three years of comfortable confinement, Sada Curpen’s charge is modified not to manslaughter – that would be too reasonable. No, the charge of conspiracy to commit murder is suddenly transformed into conspiracy to cause harm. Don’t ask why. Some people say it’s a case of the DPP being once bitten, twice shy and he wouldn’t have been able to stomach yet another motion of no confidence from a jury after the Michaela Harte fiasco.

The jury’s collaboration couldn’t be counted on because the police, our wonderfully competent police, had made a mess out of the inquiry into the murder of Denis Fine. And it seems the inquiry was so badly done, it wouldn’t have held any water whatsoever before any jury.

And we’re back to square one a person is presumed innocent until and unless he is found guilty by a court of law. Curpen was imprisoned – albeit very comfortably – for two and a half years under suspicion of having conspired to murder a person. Two years down the line, we are told that, in fact, he is not suspected of having murdered anyone, just to have conspired to “do harm”. We obviously don’t yet know if that innocuous charge will hold – if the police will be able to prove a link between Curpen and Fine’s murder. Your guess is as good as mine.

But, let’s look at the bright side of things now that Curpen has been paroled in exchange for bail set at Rs 1 million and having signed a recognizance of yet another million – small beer for him if the rumours are to be believed –, he can patiently wait for the courts to clear him and then take the State to the cleaners. With the impressive armada of lawyers representing him, Curpen could be looking at compensation in terms of millions.

Paid for by the taxpayer because of the small matter of an error of judgment by the police and the prosecution service.

Three cheers for them all!