LN Mishra assassination case: Delhi HC to conduct hearing on convicts' appeals in Nov
LN Mishra assassination case: Delhi HC to conduct hearing on convicts' appeals in Nov
New Delhi, The Delhi High Court has said it will hear in November the appeals by the convicts in the murder case of former Railway Minister L N Mishra, who was killed in a blast at Bihar's Samastipur Railway station in 1975, noting that the incident dates back to nearly five decades.
A bench of justices Prathiba M Singh and Amit Sharma listed the appeals for hearing on November 29 at 'top of the board' and asked the counsel for the four convicts and the CBI to file their synopsis and judgments which they wish to reply upon.
The four convicts - Santoshanand, Sudevanand, Gopalji and advocate Ranjan Dwivedi - have filed appeals against their conviction and imposition of life sentence for the murder.
The court made it clear that no further adjournments will be granted in the matter.
"Adjournment is sought on behalf of the appellants. Considering that the incident in the present case dates back to the year 1975, as also the large number of witnesses who were produced in this matter, the appeals deserved to be heard.
"List for hearing on November 29, 2024 on top of the board. By the said date, all counsel shall file their synopsis and judgments which they wish to rely upon. It is made clear that no further adjournments shall be granted in these matters," the bench said in its September 3 order.
The high court had earlier allowed Mishra's grandson Vaibhav Mishra to assist the CBI at the time of final hearing of the convicts' appeal.
L N Mishra, a veteran Congress leader and senior cabinet minister, received fatal injuries in the grenade blast at Samastipur, where he had gone for inauguration of broad gauge line on January 2, 1975.
He was shifted for treatment from Samastipur to Danapur where he succumbed to injuries on January 3, 1975.
Three 'Ananda Margis' Santoshanand, Sudevanand and Gopalji and advocate Dwivedi were held guilty and were sentenced to life imprisonment in December 2014 by a trial court here for the killing of the former railway minister and two others.
The trial court had held that the terror act was aimed at pressuring the then Indira Gandhi government to release the group's jailed chief.
The convicts had filed the appeal before the high court in 2015 challenging the trial court's verdict convicting and sentencing them and they were granted bail.
The trial court had also directed the Bihar government to pay ₹5 lakh each to the legal heirs of Mishra and two other victims who had died in the blast on January 2, 1975, just few months before the proclamation of Emergency.
It had held that the conspiracy to eliminate the targets was hatched in a meeting in 1973 at a village in Bihar's Bhagalpur district, attended by six 'Ananda Margis'.
Accused Ram Nagina Prasad and Ram Rup were discharged by the court in January 1981 while Arteshanand Avadhoot died in 2004 during the pendency of the case.
Two others, Visheshwaranand and Vikram, were granted pardon after they turned approvers.
The case was transferred from Bihar to Delhi on the directions of the Supreme Court.
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