SC sentences ex-RJD MP to life in jail for 1995 double murder

The apex court convicted Prabhunath Singh in the case on August 18, overturning the orders of the trial court and the Patna High Court that acquitted him.

Bihar politician Prabhunath Singh (File Photo)

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DAYS AFTER convicting former RJD MP Prabhunath Singh in a 1995 double-murder case, the Supreme Court on Friday sentenced him to life imprisonment.

Stating this orally, a bench of Justices S K Kaul, A S Oka and Vikram Nath said it would also impose a seven-year jail term for the offence under IPC Section 307 — attempt to murder. “We have already announced… Orders you will get soon,” the bench told Singh’s lawyers.

The court said that Singh and the state of Bihar will have to pay separately a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the two deceased and Rs 5 lakh for the injured.

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The case relates to the killing of two men — Daroga Rai and Rajendra Rai — in Bihar’s Chapra on the polling day for Assembly elections in March 1995. Singh, who was contesting the polls as a candidate of the Bihar People’s Party, was accused of opening fire on them after they told him that they had voted for the Janata Dal.

On August 18, the apex court found Singh guilty of culpable homicide and convicted him, overturning the orders of the trial court and Patna High Court that acquitted him. It directed the Bihar 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.

On Friday, the bench sought to know whether Singh had been taken into custody.

The counsel appearing for him said he is apparently already in custody. However, the bench said he has to be taken into custody in the present case and formalities are to be completed by the trial court.

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On October 24, 2008, the Additional Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court-III, Patna had acquitted Singh in the case. This was upheld by the Patna High Court on December 2, 2021.

Reversing both the orders, the Supreme Court said in its judgment that the investigation in the case was “tainted”, and slammed the way in which the trial court as well as the High Court went about the case.

“The trial court and 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 prosecutor’s role, and the high-handedness of the accused as also 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,” it said.

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