Amarmani Tripathi skips summons & warrant, court declares him proclaimed offender

“The court, however, rejected my application and declared my client Amarmani Tripathi a proclaimed offender,” Mishra said.

Confirming this, government counsel Devanand Singh said the court would take up the matter next on October 16.

Amarmani is undergoing treatment at different hospitals in different places, Mishra said when asked about the former minister’s whereabouts.

On August 24, the Uttar Pradesh government ordered the premature release of Tripathi, the four-time former MLA, and his wife Madhumani, serving life imprisonment in the 2003 murder case of poet Madhumani Shukla in Lucknow. The government had stated that Tripathi and his wife had “good behaviour while serving the term”. The prison department had informed the court about their release.

In 2001, according to the prosecution, leading Basti businessman Dharam Raj Gupta’s son Rahul Gupta was allegedly kidnapped from near his house in Basti. Police found Rahul purportedly locked at a house said to be under the possession of Amarmani Tripathi and booked nine persons, including the former minister, in this case.

Of the total nine accused, one has died and two others have been at large after jumping bail, police said. The case file of five accused has been separated from the rest, police said, adding the court is yet to frame charges against them.

When Amarmani failed to appear despite several summonses, the Basti court issued a notice to Basti police, directing them to produce Amarmani before it.

Basti police filed a report before the court, stating Amarmani was undergoing treatment at BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur. Amarmani, who was then serving a life sentence in a Gorakhpur jail, was sent to the hospital for treatment.

The court had then directed the Gorakhpur Chief Medical Officer (CMO) to constitute a medical board to examine Amarmani’s health condition and submit a report. Following the order, the medical board examined Amarmani and the report was submitted to the court.

After going through the medical examination report, the Basti court ordered the Gorakhpur district jail to produce Tripathi before it. The jail authorities, however, informed the court that Amarmani had been released. The court then again directed Basti police to produce Amarmani.