Prabhunath Singh Murder Case: The Patna High Court upheld his acquittal in 2012 as well. (file)
The Supreme Court today held Bihar politician Prabhunath Singh, a former lawmaker of Lalu Yadav's RJD, guilty in a 1995 double murder case, reversing his 2008 acquittal in the case by the Patna High Court.
Two men -- Rajendra Rai and Daroga Rai -- were shot dead in Chhapra because they did not vote as per Singh's order during assembly elections on August 23, 1995.
The case was moved from Chhapra to Patna when the victims' family members claimed that witnesses were being intimidated and coerced. In December 2008, a Patna court cleared Prabhunath Singh of all charges due to a lack of evidence.
The Patna High Court upheld Prabhunath Singh's acquittal in 2012.
The top court ordered the production of Prabhunath Singh in the court on September 1, when the order on the quantum of sentence will be pronounced.
"Other accused were acquitted while Prabhunath Singh has been found guilty by the SC. DGP and Chief Secretary of Bihar asked to present Prabhunath Singh physically in the court on September 1," Abhay Kumar, the victim's lawyer, told reporters outside the court.
Prabhunath Singh is currently serving a life term in another murder case. He, along with his two brothers, was in 2017 sentenced to life in prison after a two-decade trial in the murder of former Janata Dal lawmaker Ashok Singh in 1995.
Ashok Singh's wife had asked for the trial to be held on neutral ground in Jharkhand, instead of Bihar.
Ashok Singh had defeated Prabhunath Singh in the Bihar assembly polls in 1995. He was killed in a blast at his official home in Patna soon after. Prabhunath Singh had allegedly said that Ashok Singh would be eliminated within 90 days of the election.
"My brother had defeated Prabhubath Singh in 1995. Prabhunath had openly said that my brother will be killed within 90 days of becoming a legislator and was killed on the 90th day," Tarkeshwar Singh, Ashok Singh's brother, had told a news channel.
Prabhunath Singh, a strongman of Maharajganj Lok Sabha constituency of Bihar, was in the Janata Dal in 1995 and later joined Janata Dal-United (JD-U) of Nitish Kumar before finally going to the RJD.