Uttarakhand high court acquits former MP DP Yadav in 1992 murder case

A special court in Dehradun had sentenced Yadav and three others to life imprisonment in March 2015 for murdering BJP MLA Mahendra Singh Bhati

Published on: Nov 10, 2021, 15:48:22 IST

By Neeraj Santoshi

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Uttarakhand high court on Wednesday acquitted former Member of Parliament DP Yadav in the 1992 murder of Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Mahendra Singh Bhati in Uttar Pradesh’s Dadri, said Yadav’s lawyer SRS Gill. Bhati was shot dead in September 1992.

DP Yadav is currently on extended short-term bail on health grounds which was set to expire within a day or two. (Hindustan Times Photo)

Gill said a division bench of Chief Justice RS Chauhan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma Yadav acquitted Yadav of all charges in the murder case.

Sandeep Tandon, who represented the Central Bureau of Investigation in the case, said a special court in Dehradun sentenced Yadav and three others to life imprisonment in March 2015 for murdering Bhati. He added Yadav was convicted under Indian Penal Code Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), and 120 B (criminal conspiracy). Yadav challenged the conviction in the high court in 2015.

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“Yadav has been acquitted under all these charges. He is currently on extended short-term bail on health grounds which was set to expire within a day or two. Earlier this year, he had been granted bail twice on health grounds,” said Tandon. He added they will go through the high court judgment and then take a decision on challenging the acquittal in Supreme Court.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More