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HC upholds acquittal of Union minister Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’, three others in 23-year-old murder case
A division bench of Justice AR Masoodi and Justice Om Prakash Shukla on Friday dismissed the state government’s appeal against the acquittal. The high court had completed the hearing in the matter on February 21 and reserved the order.
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Friday upheld a Lakhimpur Kheri trial court’s 19-year-old order acquitting Union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’ and three others in the murder of Prabhat Gupta, a student leader, in July 2000.
A division bench of Justice AR Masoodi and Justice Om Prakash Shukla on Friday dismissed the state government’s appeal against the acquittal. The high court had completed the hearing in the matter on February 21 and had reserved the order.
The Lakhimpur Kheri trial court had acquitted Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’, Subash ‘Mama’, Rakesh alias ‘Dalu’ and Shashibhushan alias ‘Pinky’ on March 29, 2004 of murder charges.
The state government had filed the appeal against the acquittal on June 9, 2004 in the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court. Santosh Gupta, the father of the deceased, had filed a separate revision petition challenging the judgment, also in the Lucknow bench.
Prabhat Gupta, 24, was shot dead in the Tikunia area of Lakhimpur Kheri district on July 8, 2000. His father Santosh Gupta lodged an FIR at Tikunia police station of the district, naming Ajay Mishra and three others.
“This court finds that all the aforesaid aspects have been considered threadbare by the trial court. The evidence recorded in the present case has been appreciated in its correct perspective and the trial court has at no point of time missed the woods for the trees,” the high court observed.
“Thus, we do not find any perversity in the order of acquittal passed by the trial court and in any case, the law presumes double presumption in favour of the accused after a due adjudication by the trial court,” the high court added.
“Further, on recording of the findings as aforesaid, we find that the prosecution has utterly failed to establish the chain of events which can exclusively lead to the one and only conclusion, i.e., the guilt of the accused persons,” the high court said.
“In that view of the matter, we find that the judgment and order of the learned sessions judge to be a plausible and sustainable view, especially when the trial court had the advantage of seeing and assessing the demeanour of witnesses,” the high court added.
“This court has also recorded its independent finding and holds that the theory put forth by prosecution that the four accused persons were liable for causing the death of the deceased is unconvincing and shorn of evidence proved beyond reasonable doubt,” the high court observed.
“As a sequel to above, the appeal as well as the revision are therefore dismissed,” the high court said.
“The judgment and order of acquittal dated 29.03.2004 in Sessions Trial No. 518/2001, under section 302/34 IPC, acquitting all the accused/respondents is upheld and all the accused/respondents are acquitted of the charges levelled against them,” the high court ordered.
Ajay Mishra is also the Member of Parliament from Kheri Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
