2003 murder of NCP leader Ramavatar Jaggi: Chhattisgarh High Court convicts Amit Jogi, orders surrender in 3 weeks

Bilaspur: The Chhattisgarh High Court on Thursday convicted Amit Jogi, son of former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi, in the 2003 murder case of NCP leader Ramavatar Jaggi, and directed him to surrender before the court within three weeks, the CBI's counsel said.

The HC reopened proceedings in the case last month following directions from the Supreme Court.

A division bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Arvind Kumar Verma on Thursday set aside the acquittal of Amit Jogi, convicted him and issued the surrender directive, CBI counsel Vaibhav A Goverdhan told PTI.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Jaggi was murdered on June 4, 2003, when Ajit Jogi was the chief minister of Chhattisgarh.

The case was initially investigated by the state police and later transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which filed a chargesheet against several accused, including Amit Jogi.

On May 31, 2007, a trial court in Raipur held that the prosecution had successfully proved the charges against 28 accused. It, however, acquitted Amit Jogi of the charges levelled against him.

The CBI later challenged the acquittal, but the high court dismissed its petition in 2011 on grounds of delay. Separate appeals by the Chhattisgarh government and Satish Jaggi, son of Ramavtar Jaggi, were also rejected.

In November last year, the SC asked the Chhattisgarh High Court to consider afresh the CBI's plea seeking permission to file an appeal against the acquittal of Amit Jogi.