1995 double murder: SC reverses RJD leader Prabhunath Singh's acquittal
The Supreme Court on Friday found Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former MP Prabhunath Singh guilty in a 1995 double murder case and overturned his previous acquittal. Singh, who is already serving a life sentence for another murder case, was convicted for the murders of Rajendra Rai and Daroga Rai near a polling booth in Bihar's Chhapra. The victims were allegedly killed for not voting according to Singh's instructions.
Victims' families claimed witnesses were threatened
A Patna court acquitted Singh in 2008 due to a lack of evidence, and the Patna High Court upheld the decision in 2012. Rajendra Rai's brother challenged the acquittal in the top court, which took up the case and reversed the previous ruling. The case was transferred from Chhapra to Patna after the family of the deceased claimed that witnesses were being threatened and influenced. The SC observed that there was sufficient evidence to prove Singh's involvement in the murders.
Quantum of sentence to be decided in next hearing
The court convicted Singh under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 302 for the murders of Daroga and Rajendra and affirmed the acquittal of six other co-accused. The punishment for murder can either be a life term or death sentence. The SC scheduled the next hearing for September 1, when the quantum of his sentence will likely be decided. Notably, he switched over to the RJD in 2010 from the Janata Dal (United) after a fallout with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Who is Prabhunath Singh?
Prabhunath Singh gained infamy as Chhapra's strongman and remained in power for nearly 30 years by jumping ship. He first won as an independent candidate in the Mashrakh constituency in 1985, allegedly after getting sitting MLA Ramdev Singh murdered. He won again in the 1990 election on a Janata Dal ticket with support from Ashok Singh, his protege. However, the Janata Dal fielded Ashok in Mashrakh in the 1995 Assembly election, leaving Prabhunath furious.
What was the case?
Ashok went on to defeat Prabhunath in the Bihar Assembly polls in 1995. He shot dead Rajendra (18) and Daroga (47) in March 1995. Within three months of the results, Ashok was also killed in a bombing at his Patna residence. Prabhunath's brother Deenanath Singh was present during the incident, which strengthened the case against the former, the Navbharat Times reported. In 2017, he was awarded a life sentence for Ashok's murder by a Jharkhand court.
