SC to hear Manjunath murder case

The legal battle to punish the killers of Indian Oil Corporation sales manager S. Manjunath has reached the Supreme Court with three of the six convicts challenging the December 11, 2009 verdict of the Allahabad HC holding them guilty of his murder.

The legal battle to punish the killers of Indian Oil Corporation sales manager S. Manjunath has reached the Supreme Court with three of the six convicts challenging the December 11, 2009 verdict of the Allahabad HC holding them guilty of his murder.

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A graduate from IIM-Lucknow, 27-year-old Manjunath was killed on November 19, 2005 after he exposed corruption and oil adulteration racket in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh. He was shot dead when he reached the petrol pump, owned by prime accused Pawan Kumar alias Monu Mittal, to collect samples of adulterated petrol allegedly being sold from the outlet.

Mittal, whose death sentence was reduced to life imprisonment by the Allahabad High Court, has challenged his conviction. Two other petitions are by convicts Rakesh Anand and Vivek Sharma.