The Tripura High Court on Friday upheld the verdict of a trial court that sentenced 12 people to life imprisonment for murdering Congress MLA Parimal Saha in 1983.
The Division Bench of the High Court led by Chief Justice Sanjoy Karol and Justice Arindam Lodh also ordered for life imprisonment to one convict of the same case who was acquitted by the trial court earlier.
“These 12 were convicted by the trial court in 2016 and were given life imprisonment. The High Court upheld the verdict and also gave life imprisonment to one Satya Ranjan Das, who was earlier released by the lower court,” said Samrat Kar Bhowmik, counsel of deceased MLA’s younger brother Mati Lal Saha.
These 12 convicts are Uttam Saha, Mrinal Sengupta, Pratul Sengupta, Shasthi Chakraborty, Bijoy Kumar Das, Kajal Roy, Abhoy Kanti Bhushan, Chinmoy Ghosh, Babul Das, Sukhendu Bikash Das, Sajal Kumar Sarkar and Hiranmoy Ghosh.
Twenty four people were charged for the murder. Six died during trial and one remains absconding.
In 2016, the trial court convicted 12 out of 17 accused. Five of the accused - Satya Ranjan Das, Arun Kumar Saha, Chand Miah, Uttam Kumar Saha and Tapan Kumar Das were released by the court due to lack of evidence.