Former RJD MP Prabhunath Singh was sentenced to life imprisonment in a matter pertaining to a 1995 double murder case by the Supreme Court on Friday. A bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, AS Oka, and Vikram Nath also directed Singh and the Bihar government to each pay ₹10 lahks separately to the families of the two deceased victims and ₹5 lahks each to an injured victim in the case.Singh was procured virtually from the Hazaribagh jail in Jharkhand where he is presently undergoing life imprisonment in another murder case. This comes a week after the top court convicted the Bihar politician in the case, overturning the orders of the trial court and the Patna High Court acquitting him. The Supreme Court added that he will also have to undergo seven years in prison for the offense under Section 307, attempt to murder.“The prosecution version in the present case was being demolished brick by brick by using political authority and muscle power with the aid of not only the police administration but also with the aid of Public Prosecutor and unfortunately, the presiding officer of the trial court also conducted himself in a manner unbecoming of a judicial officer,” said the bench, adding several key witnesses and evidence were deliberately kept out or overlooked during the trial to benefit Singh.Supreme Court sentenced life imprisonment to Bihar politician Prabhunath Singh in a matter pertaining to 1995 double murder case pic.twitter.com/1WmHpKB6nb— ANI (@ANI) September 1, 2023Double Murder of 1995, what was it all about Singh had open-fired on the victims as they did not cast their votes for Singh like he asked them and instead voted for the Janata Dal. The incident took place while they were returning after casting their vote. Singh was then contesting as a candidate of the Bihar Peoples Party.Holding Singh guilty of culpable homicide for killing Daroga Rai(47) and Rajendra Rai(18), near a polling booth in March 1995 in Bihars Chhapra village, the court directed the state home secretary and DGP “to ensure that…Singh is taken into custody forthwith and produced before” it on September 1 for hearing arguments on the quantum of sentence to be imposed.Attorneys Abhishek Manu Singhvi and R Basanth, representing Singh, pleaded on behalf of Sigh said that their client be not sentenced to death sentence since it was not a case that would fall within the category of the “rarest of rare” offense. The lawyers further added that the Supreme Court had overturned acquittals by two lower courts on August 18.The Patna High court had transferred the case from Chhapra after the kin of those killed alleged that witnesses were being threatened and influenced. When the Patna high court acquitted Singh in 2008 and 2012, Rajendra Rais brother challenged the acquittal in the Supreme Court. Reversing the decisions of the trial court and the high court, the Supreme Court said the investigation in the case was “tainted”, and slammed how the trial court as well as the high court handled this case“The trial court and the high court miserably failed to notice the sensitivity and intricacies of the case. Both the courts completely shut their eyes to the manner of the investigation, the prosecutors role, and the high-handedness of the accused as well as the conduct of the presiding officer of the trial court, despite observations and findings having been recorded not only by the administrative judge but also by the division bench deciding habeas corpus petition,” the judgment said.The court, however, affirmed the acquittal of six other co-accused over lack of evidence.
