SC upholds Union minister Ajay Mishra’s acquittal in murder case

The Supreme Court has upheld an order of the Allahabad High Court that dismissed an appeal filed by the Uttar Pradesh government in 2004 against Union minister Ajay Mishra’s acquittal in a murder case.

The case pertains to the killing of Prabhat Gupta in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh in 2000.

A top court bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal said it was not inclined to interfere with the concurrent findings of facts recorded by the Lucknow bench of the high court and the trial court.

“Having heard the senior counsel, Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioner, at length and after carefully perusing the material placed on record, we are not inclined to interfere with the concurrent findings of facts recorded by the two courts,” the bench said in its order passed on January 8.

The trial court had acquitted Mishra in the case in 2004, after which the state government challenged the decision in the hc. The top court was hearing an appeal filed by petitioner Rajeev Gupta, challenging the May 2023 HC order that had said there was no error in the trial court’s judgment. Earlier, he had moved SC seeking a transfer of the appeal from Lucknow bench of HC to the principal bench at Prayagraj, which was declined.