The Allahabad High Court on Friday upheld Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni’s acquittal in the 23-year-old Prabhat Gupta Murder Case.
A division bench of Justice Attau Rahman Masoodi and Justice Om Prakash Shukla dismissed the Uttar Pradesh government’s appeal against his acquittal order issued by the Trial Court in 2004.
The case dates back to the year 2000 when Prabhat Gupta, a rising student leader, was shot dead near his home in Tikonia (Lakhimpur Kheri). In this case, four people were named as accused, including Union Minister Teni. Teni was acquitted by the lower Court in 2004.
The complainant/revisionist (Santosh Gupta/father of deceased Prabhat Gupta) filed a revision plea before the HC under Section 397/401 Cr.P.C. against the lower court’s order. The revision was admitted in February 2005 as part of the state government’s Criminal Appeal against the acquittal order.
The case
Teni is accused of having a dispute with the deceased over Panchayat elections, and as a result, the deceased was shot dead by Teni and co-accused Subhash alias Mama. The state claims that the trial court disregarded the eyewitness’ testimony.
Teni’s case, on the other hand, is that the trial court was justified in acquitting him of the offence because the trial court did not find the testimony of the alleged eyewitness to be reliable.
It may be noted that previously, a co-ordinate Bench of the High Court heard the appeal finally and reserved its order on March 12, 2018, but the same was later released by the bench on the application filed by the complainant/applicant because the judgment had not been delivered after more than six months and the matter was ordered to be listed for final hearing.
After four years passed, but the case could not be finally heard, an application for an early listing of the appeal for a final hearing was filed in 2022. After hearing the case on April 7, 2022, a division bench of the High Court directed that it be scheduled for a final hearing before the appropriate Bench on May 16, 2022.
Despite the Division bench’s order, the case could not be resolved, and it was adjourned at least eight times (until October 17, 2022).
Teni’s request to transfer the current Government appeal from Allahabad High Court’s Lucknow bench to Prayagraj Bench was denied by the Supreme Court in October 2022. Instead, the bench of then-Chief Justice UU Lalit and Justice Bela M. Trivedi asked the High Court to hear the appeal for disposition on November 10, 2022, the date set by the High Court and agreed upon by Senior Counsel for both parties.
Though the matter was reserved for a verdict on November 30, last year, the Allahabad High Court on December 21, 2022, scheduled a ‘final hearing’ in the third week of January 2023 after one Rajeev Gupta, claiming to be the son of the complainant (also a revisionist), Santosh Gupta, moved an application for permission to submit written arguments on behalf of revisionist.
Finally, after hearing the revisionist and allowing him to participate as a ‘Victim’ in the State’s appeal against Teni’s acquittal before the High Court, the Court reserved the verdict in the matter again in February 2023.
