Lucknow, Dec 21 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court has referred a case involving the acquittal of rebel Samajwadi Party MLA Abhay Singh and his four associates to the Chief Justice for nomination of a fresh bench.
The decision comes after a fractured verdict by two judges of the Lucknow bench who had delivered conflicting rulings regarding the acquittal recorded by the Special MP/MLA Court in Ambedkar Nagar.
The case will now be heard afresh, with a new bench set to deliver a verdict.
The bench, comprising justices AR Masoodi and Ajai Kumar Srivastava, was hearing a criminal appeal challenging the acquittal of ingh, along with his associates - Rama Kant Yadav, Ravi Kant Yadav, Shambhunath Singh, and Sandeep Singh (also known as Pappu) - in a case related to a no-gunshot injury incident.
Justice Masoodi had overturned the acquittal, convicting the accused and sentencing them to a maximum of three years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000 each.
However, Justice Srivastava upheld the acquittal, arguing that the appellant, Vikas Singh, failed to provide admissible evidence to contest the Special MP/MLA Court’s decision.
Both judges, however, upheld the acquittal of two other accused individuals, Girish Pandey (alias Dippul Pandey) and Vijay Gupta.
The case dates back to May 15, 2010, when Vikas Singh, who had a serious criminal history, lodged an FIR at Maharajganj Police Station in Ayodhya.
In his complaint, Singh accused Abhay Singh and his associates of chasing his car and attempting to shoot him and his companions while they were on their way to Singh’s native village. Singh alleged that Abhay and his associates fired shots at the car, but the bullets missed, hitting only the vehicle.
Sandeep Yadav, the counsel of the appellant said that a charge sheet was filed against seven individuals, including Abhay Singh, following investigation.
In January 2023, the high court transferred the trial from Ayodhya to Ambedkar Nagar at the request of accused Shambhunath.
On May 10, 2023, the Special MP/MLA Court acquitted all the accused due to insufficient evidence. Singh appealed the acquittal to the high court, arguing that the trial court had failed to properly assess the evidence, leading to an erroneous acquittal.
In his verdict, Justice Masoodi criticized the acquittal, stating that while both the appellant and Abhay Singh had criminal backgrounds, it did not mean that the charges were false.
He pointed out that the appellant had mentioned in the FIR that Abhay Singh was a “mafia don” and that their political rivalry could have been a motive for the alleged attack.
On the other hand, Justice Srivastava maintained that the Special MP/MLA Court’s acquittal did not suffer from any illegality and was not perverse.
The case now awaits a fresh hearing before a newly appointed bench. PTI COR CDN ZMN
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