Former RJD MP and muscleman Prabhunath Singh (65) failed to get relief from Jharkhand High Court in 25-year-old murder case of JD(U) MLA Ashoke Singh that took place during undivided Bihar.
Bench of Justice AK Gupta and Justice Rajesh Kumar on Friday upheld the judgment passed by Additional District and Sessions Judge of Hazaribagh district court Surendra Sharma awarding life imprisonment to him as well as his brother Dinanath Singh and accomplice Ritesh Singh in May 2017.
The former MP had challenged the lower court decision.
However, the High Court quashed the conviction of Ritesh on the ground that there was no sufficient evidence of his involvement in the crime.
All three are in judicial custody at Jai Prakash Narayan Central Jail in Hazaribagh.
The deceased became MLA of Masrakh assembly constituency in Saran district of Bihar by defeating Prabhunath Singh and was killed exactly 90 days after his election. He was at his residence meeting his supporters and workers when bombs were hurled upon him along with indiscriminate firing, on July 3, 1995. Ashok’s wife Chandni Devi, who lodged FIR at the Secretariat police station in Patna on July 3, 1995 claimed that Prabhunath, his brother Dinanath Singh and some other associates were watching murder from a stone’s throw away. They later drove away in a car that Prabhunath was driving.
The widow accused Prabhunath Singh for murdering her husband out of political rivalry. The family of the deceased claimed that Prabhunath Singh had openly threatened to eliminate him within 90 days of his election. Prabhunath, who won the Masrakh assembly seat in 1985 and 1990 had lost the election to Ashoke in 1995.
In 1997, the Patna High Court shifted hearing of this case to Hazaribagh district court following instruction of the Supreme Court. The case was transferred after petitioner Chandni Devi feared Prabhunath may use his political connection to influence investigation and trial.