The Indiana Supreme Court Justices are set to hear a particularly intriguing case regarding expungement.
Naveed Gulzar was convicted of a Class D felony theft in 2006. In 2016, Gulzar successfully petitioned to have his conviction reduced to a Class A misdemeanor. He then filed an expungement petition in 2018. This petition was denied on the grounds that Gulzar had to wait a full five years after the entry of the misdemeanor… even though this incident happened in 2006. The Elkhart Superior Court ruled that Gulzar had to wait a full five years from the date the conviction was reduced.
The entire situation is a bit preposterous. This conviction has no doubt hung over Gulzar’s head since 2006, which is proven by the fact that he took considerable action in 2018. He shouldn’t have to wait a full five years from 2018 for an incident that was almost 15 years ago. The reasoning is purely clerical—this particular five-year waiting period would serve no legitimate purpose.
Judge John Baker agrees. He dissented, arguing that forcing Gulzar to wait would mean that “a person who has a Class D felony conviction that was converted to a Class A misdemeanor has to wait longer for expungement than someone who merely has a Class D felony conviction.” He called the result “both unjust and ill-advised,” and “doubly wrong.”
The Indiana Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, and we can only hope they come to a just ruling.
