Former BSP MP from Phulpur Kapil Muni Karwariya and his brother and party MLC Suraj Bhan were Tuesday sent to jail by a district court in connection with the Jawahar Yadav alias Jawahar Pandit murder case of 1996 reported under Civil Lines police station area of the city. Both were present in the court. Another accused, Ramchandra, cousin of Karwariyas, was also sent to jail. With this, the trial in the case is set to finally begin. “The three accused appeared in the court for the first time. The Additional Sessions Judge-I, Bhopal Singh, sent them to judicial custody. The Allahabad High Court had earlier vacated the stay on their arrest on April 7,” said district government counsel (criminal), Ranendra Pratap Singh, who is also the special prosecutor in the case. Counsel for Kapil Muni and the other two accused, Sheetala Prasad Mishra, said: “We have already applied for Kapil Muni’s bail and it is slated for final hearing on Wednesday. Further legal relief for the other two will be sought thereafter. The High Court had, after vacating the stay, asked the three accused to present themselves before the court and the hearing be completed within eight months. The accused in the case are following legal procedures”. [related-post] Kapil Muni’s another brother and former BJP MLA Uday Bhan Karwaria is also an accused in the case. He, too, had avoided appearance before the court, but had to surrender when the state government successfully pointed out that there was no stay on his arrest in the case. Property attachment proceedings had been initiated against him, following which he presented himself before the court. He has been in jail for nearly 18 months now and is said to be suffering from ill health. Then SP MLA from Jhunsi assembly constituency Jawahar Pandit was murdered in Civil Lines area on August 13, 1996. Kapil Muni, Uday Bhan, Suraj Bhan and Ramchandra were named as accused in the murder. Pandit’s widow Vijma Yadav is currently the SP MLA from Pratappur Assembly constituency.
