Allahabad HC Upholds Acquittal Of Union Minister Ajay Mishra In 23-Year-Old Murder Case

The Allahabad High Court dismissed the Uttar Pradesh government's appeal against Ajay Mishra's acquittal order passed by a trial court in 2004.

Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni.

Source : PTI

The Allahabad High Court on Friday upheld the acquittal of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni in the Prabhat Gupta murder case. The bench of Justice Attau Rahman Masoodi and Justice Om Prakash Shukla dismissed the Uttar Pradesh government's appeal against his acquittal order passed by a trial court in 2004.

Ajay Mishra is the father of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri killings accused Ashish Mishra. The hearing of the case ended on Tuesday. After hearing the case on February 21, 2023, the bench reserved its decision in the case.

In 2000, Prabhat Gupta was shot dead in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri in Surrey Bazar while he was returning home. Prabhat was a member of the youth wing of the Samajwadi Party, while Teni was associated with the BJP back then. Four people, including Ajay Mishra Teni, were named in the FIR. The other accused in the case are Subhash Mama, Shashi Bhushan Pinky, and Rakesh Dalu. 

The trial court had acquitted Teni in 2004 due to lack of evidence. In 2004, the UP government back then moved the High Court against the decision of the trial court.

The UP government argued that Teni had a dispute with Prabhat regarding the panchayat election. It was alleged on behalf of the government that Prabhat was shot by Teni and the other accused Subhash Mama.

There were also eyewitnesses to the incident, whose testimony was ignored by the trial court. On this, the defense argued that the testimony of the alleged eyewitness was not considered trustworthy by the trial court because he was an employee of the shop where the incident took place. The defense said that the trial court's decision to acquit Ajay Mishra Teni was justified.

Previously, the decision was reserved two times so far. It was reserved for the first time on March 12, 2018, by Justices Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Dinesh Kumar Singh. It was reserved for the second time on November 10, 2022, on the orders of Justices Ramesh Sinha and Renu Aggarwal.