The Supreme Court has agreed to examine an appeal of the Bihar government against the acquittal of Kameshwar Prasad Yadav in the 1989 Bhagalpur communal riots in which over 1,000 people had lost their lives.
The Patna High Court had in June set aside the life term awarded to Yadav by the trial court in the case of murder of a Muslim teenager.
Yadav, 58, was convicted by a Bhagalpur court on November 6, 2009, after the Nitish Kumar-led government had decided to reopen 27 riot cases in 2006.
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A Bench led by Justice A.K. Sikri admitted the appeal of the State government and directed an expeditious hearing in the case.
Senior advocate K.T.S Tulsi, for the Bihar government, argued that the High Court had “erroneously” set aside the conviction order on the ground of delay in lodging of the FIR.
The senior advocate said it was a settled law that in cases pertaining to communal riots, the delay in FIR had to be seen in the light of the fact that the city was in turmoil and people were afraid of coming forward to depose against the perpetrators.
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Yadav, who was first arrested in 2007, had been acquitted in three riot cases. His arrest in this case came on the basis of a complaint filed by the murder victim’s father.