Ex-Bihar minister murder case: Supreme Court junks review plea, upholds former MLA's life term

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has upheld the life term given to criminal-turned-politician Vijay Kumar Shukla alias Munna Shukla for the murder of former RJD minister Brij Bihari Prasad in Patna in 1998.

A bench of former Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and R Mahadevan dismissed pleas of Shukla and a co-convict seeking a review of a top court verdict.

On October 3, last year, the top court convicted Shukla and one Mantu Tiwari in the case.

"We do not find any good ground and reason to review the judgment dated October 3, 2024," the bench said, taking into account the documents on record, in its May 6 order uploaded recently.

The apex court also rejected the prayer for an open court hearing on the review petitions.

The top court partially set aside the Patna High Court verdict acquitting all the accused when it asked convicts Shukla, a former MLA, and Tiwari to surrender within 15 days to undergo life imprisonment.

They were each slapped with a Rs 20,000 fine under Section 302 (murder) read with Section 34 (common intention) and ordered to undergo an additional five-year jail term with a fine of Rs 20,000 each under Section 307 (attempt to murder) read with Section 34 of IPC.

The top court, however, gave benefit of the doubt to five other accused, including former MP Surajbhan Singh, and upheld their acquittal.

The murder of Prasad, an influential OBC leader and husband of former BJP MP Rama Devi, by Gorakhpur-based gangster Sri Prakash Shukla, was followed by the encounter of the assailant by a Uttar Pradesh special task force and others.

"The charge under section 302 (murder) read with section 34 of the IPC against Mantu Tiwari and Vijay Kumar Shukla @ Munna Shukla for the murders of Brij Bihari Prasad and Lakshmeshwar Sahu (bodyguard of Prasad) is proven and established beyond reasonable doubt," the top court said.

Even the attempt to murder charge was established beyond reasonable doubt, it added.

Two other accused -- Bhupendra Nath Dubey and Captain Sunil Singh -- died during the pendency of the proceedings.

Tiwari is the nephew of Dubey, who was the brother of Devendra Nath Dubey, a political rival of Devi.

Devendra Nath Dubey, who was contesting as Samajwadi Party candidate against RJD's Devi, was killed a day before the re-poll for the Motihari Lok Sabha constituency on February 23, 1998 and Prasad and others were named as accused in the case.

The case was transferred to CBI on March 7, 1999 and the agency named former MP Surajbhan Singh and three others as conspirators of the crime.

It was alleged by the probe agency that a meeting took place in Beur Jail in Patna where Surajbhan was incarcerated with Munna Shukla, Lallan Singh and Ram Niranjan Chaudhary before the killing of Prasad on June 13, 1998.

On July 24, 2014, the high court acquitted all the accused giving benefit of doubt and set aside the trial court's August 12, 2009 order convicting them and awarding all the accused life sentences.