Amit Jogi gets life term: The Chhattisgarh High Court (HC) on Monday sentenced Amit Jogi, son of state’s former Chief Minister (CM) Ajit Jogi to lifetime imprisonment in a murder case that dates back to 2003. Notably, Amit was accused of murdering a leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Ramavatar Jaggi, and was earlier acquitted by a court in Raipur in 2007. 

HC finds trial court’s verdict ‘unsound’

A division bench of the Chhattisgarh HC, comprising Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Arvind Kumar Verma, ruled that the trial court’s 2007 decision clearing Jogi was legally untenable. The bench noted that acquitting the alleged main conspirator while convicting 28 others on the same evidence was unjustified. 

Jogi, who heads the Chhattisgarh unit of Janata Congress, has been convicted on charges of murder and criminal conspiracy. A fine of Rs 1,000 has also been imposed on him. 

Amit Jogi gets life term: A murder that shook politics in CG

The case roots back to June 4, 2003, when Jaggi, a senior NCP leader and a close aide of Vidyacharan Shukla, was shot dead in broad daylight. The killing kicked up a major political storm across Chhattisgarh. 

The police, during the probe, had named 31 persons as accused in the case. In 2007, a court in Raipur convicted 28 individuals but acquitted Amit Jogi, citing insufficient evidence. Jaggi’s son, Satish Jaggi, pursued a prolonged legal battle, eventually approaching the Supreme Court (SC), which led to the Chhattisgarh HC revisiting the case.

HC grants three weeks to surrender

Alongside Jogi, the HC reaffirmed convictions of several co-accused, identified as Yahya Dhebar, Abhay Goyal, Firoz Siddiqui, VK Pandey and Chiman Singh. Jogi’s legal team has since filed a Special Leave Petition before the SC, indicating that the legal battle is far from over. The HC, meanwhile, has granted him three weeks to surrender. 

Jogi says SC would deliver justice

Reacting to the verdict, Amit Jogi termed the decision unjust. He claimed he was denied an adequate opportunity to present his case, and expressed faith that the apex court (SC) would deliver justice. In contrast, Satish Jaggi welcomed the ruling, labelling it as a long-awaited victory. Speaking on the occasion of Hanuman Janmotsav, he said his family’s two decade-long pursuit of justice had finally borne fruit, adding that ‘truth has prevailed.’ 

Investigations and legal proceedings in the case are likely to continue, as the matter heads to the apex court.  

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