Judgment jolt for ex-minister

Former UP minister Amarmani Tripathi and his wife Madhumani besides two others were held responsible for the murder of Madhumita Shukla, report U Parashar and R Gusain.

A special court on Wednesday convicted former UP minister Amarmani Tripathi, his wife Madhumani and two others for the murder of Tripathi's pregnant girlfriend and poetess Madhumita Shukla and sentenced them to life imprisonment.

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Delivering the judgment in-camera, Sessions Judge VB Rai held all four responsible for murder, criminal conspiracy and criminal intimidation. A fifth defendant, Prakash Pandey, was acquitted for lack of evidence.

The murder was carried out "at the behest" of Tripathi's wife, Madhumani, "who was opposed to (Madhumita's) affair with her husband", prosecutor Manohar Sharma said.

Tripathi, currently a Samajwadi Party MLA, was minister for registration and printing, and one of the closest advisors of Mayawati, who was chief minister then as well, when 26-year-old Madhumita was killed in her Lucknow apartment on May 9, 2003. Two young men entered Madhumita's flat and shot her at point-blank range.

The post mortem revealed that Madhumita had been seven months pregnant when she was killed. As Tripathi's close association with Madhumita became known, and suspicion zeroed in on his having sent the killers, he was dropped from the cabinet and the case handed to the state CID. Later, following allegations that Tripathi was trying to influence the police, the CBI took over, and after due investigations, arrested Tripathi and his wife.

While political parties reacted cautiously to the judgment, Tripathi's lawyer, Surat Singh Negi said they would appeal to a higher court.