NCP leader Ramavatar Jaggi murder case: Chhattisgarh High Court sentences Amit Jogi to life imprisonment

Raipur: The Chhattisgarh High Court has sentenced Amit Jogi, son of former chief minister Ajit Jogi, to life imprisonment for the 2003 murder of NCP leader Ramavatar Jaggi.

The order is of April 2 when a division bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Arvind Kumar Verma had set aside Amit Jogi's acquittal by a trial court in 2007. The order copy was uploaded on the HC’s website on Monday.

"We are of the considered opinion that the judgment passed by the learned trial judge acquitting the accused Amit Jogi is palpably illegal, wrong, perverse, contrary to the evidence available on record and without any concrete basis," the order said.

The judgment dated May 31, 2007 passed in the trial court relating to the acquittal of Amit Jogi, being untenable, is accordingly set aside, the HC order added.

Amit Jogi is held guilty and is convicted for the offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section 120-B of the IPC and is sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life, the HC order said.

The HC also fined him Rs 1,000, and failure to pay it will result in additional imprisonment of six months.

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 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.

The CBI later challenged the acquittal, but the HC dismissed its petition in 2011 on grounds of delay. Separate appeals by the Chhattisgarh government and the deceased's son Satish 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 Amit Jogi's acquittal.

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