The Supreme Court on April 26 upheld the Delhi High Court verdict acquitting JMM supremo Shibu Soren in connection with the murder of his private secretary Shashi Nath Jha in 1994.
A bench of Justices A.K. Goel and R.F. Nariman refused to interfere with the August 22, 2007, verdict of the High Court which had set aside the trial court judgement holding Mr. Soren, former Union Minister, guilty in the case.
The CBI and Jha’s family members had challenged the High Court verdict which had held that the probe agency has miserably failed in getting evidence against the veteran tribal leader.
The High Court had also acquitted four others — Nand Kishore Mehta, Shailendra Bhattacharya, Pashupati Nath Mehta and Ajay Kumar Mehta — of all the charges on the same grounds.
A Delhi court on November 28, 2006 convicted Mr. Soren and four others for abduction and murder of Jha. The sentences were pronounced on December 5, 2006.
Jha had gone missing from Dhaula Kuan area of south Delhi on May 22, 1994. He was last seen in Ranchi allegedly in the company of Mr. Soren’s loyalists the next day.
