SC refuses to interfere with HC order acquitting Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni in a murder case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday declined to interfere with the Allahabad High Court order, which upheld the acquittal of Union Home Minister of State Ajay Mishra Teni in a murder case in 2000.

As many as four persons, including Teni, were named in the murder of Prabhat Gupta, who was shot dead in the Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh.

A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal said that the court was not inclined to interfere with the concurrent findings of courts of the high court and the trial court. The apex court rejected the plea on behalf of the original complainant.

The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court had in May, 2023 upheld the acquittal of Teni.

Petitioner Rajeev Gupta moved the apex court challenging the high court order. In 2004, the trial court acquitted Teni, noting that prosecution had failed to establish the chain of events. The trial court order was challenged by the Uttar Pradesh government before the high court.

Teni also moved the apex court seeking a transfer of the appeal from the Lucknow Bench of the High Court to the principal bench of the High Court at Prayagraj.

In October 2022, the apex court declined to transfer the plea and asked the high court to hear his plea for final disposal in November, 2022.

Mishra had challenged an August 2022, administrative order passed by the chief justice of the Allahabad high court rejecting his prayer to transfer the appeal from the bench in Lucknow to the principal bench at Prayagraj.

The Union minister had contended that the senior advocate representing him was based at Allahabad and due to his old age found it difficult to go all the way to Lucknow for arguments. In May 2023, the high court upheld Teni's acquittal.