1998 Bihar minister Brij Prasad murder: Supreme Court upholds conviction of 2, acquits six others, including former MP

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Sanjay Kumar and R Mahadevan partially set aside the Patna High Court verdict acquitting all the accused and asked convicts Mantu Tiwari and ex-MLA Shukla to surrender within 15 days.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has held former RJD MLA Vijay Kumar Shukla alias Munna Shukla and another person as guilty in the sensational killing of ex Bihar Minister Brij Bihari Prasad in judicial custody in a Patna hospital.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Sanjay Kumar and R Mahadevan, however, granted benefit of doubt to gangster politician former MP Suraj Bhan Singh, and other accused Mukesh Singh, Lallan Singh, Ram Niranjan Chaudhary and Rajan Tiwari, while upholding their acquittal in the case.

The case also involved an accused Sri Prakash Shukla from Uttar Pradesh who was subsequently gunned down by the Uttar Pradesh STF in a shootout.

Acting on appeals by Rama Devi, former BJP MP and widow of the leader, and the CBI, the bench said, "The charge under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the IPC against Mantu Tiwari and Vijay Kumar Shukla alias Munna Shukla for the murders of Brij Bihari Prasad and Lakshmeshwar Sahu, a Bihar police constable is proven and established beyond reasonable doubt."

The Patna High Court had in 2014 acquitted all the nine accused, by overturning the trial court's judgment of holding them guilty in the case.

In its judgment, the bench relied upon the testimony of appellant Rama Devi who said her slain husband was an accused in the murder of political rival Devendra Nath Dubey. Her husband was also arrested in MEDHA scam by the CBI. He was subsequently lodged in Beur Jail. Due to his ill health, he was taken to Patna Medical College from where he was referred to IGIMS hospital.

"Accused Mantu Tiwari was the nephew of the late Bhupendra Nath Dubey (since deceased), who was the brother of Devendra Nath Dubey, a political rival of Rama Devi (PW-24). Devendra Nath Dubey was killed a day before the re-poll for the Motihari Lok Sabha Constituency. Brij Bihari Prasad was named as an accused in the case," the court noted.

The court also noted the long standing animosity was further highlighted by the fact that accused Vijay Kumar Shukla alias Munna Shukla is the brother of Chottan Shukla and Bhutkun Shukla, who were allegedly killed by the henchmen of Brij Bihari Prasad.

In the case, the bench said though the Tata Sumo and the Ambassador cars, and automatic weapons used by assailants were not recovered, the ocular version of the witnesses should not be disregarded solely because the weapon used in the crime and the vehicles allegedly used by the accused were not located or seized by the police.

"However, given the facts and circumstances of the case, the failure of the police to recover the vehicles and the weapons is not sufficient to undermine the credibility of the eyewitness accounts or the corroborative evidence regarding the cause of the homicidal deaths of Brij Bihari Prasad and Lakshmeshwar Sahu," the bench said.

The court similarly did not agree to the High Court's reasonings for delay in sending FIR to the jurisdictional court and criminal background of the prosecution witness to discard the prosecution case.

The court said a delay in forwarding the FIR to the jurisdictional magistrate is not fatal to the prosecution case.

It also said the testimony of a witness with a chequered past cannot be dismissed as untruthful or uncreditworthy without considering the surrounding facts and circumstances of the case, including their presence at the scene of the offence.

"In cases involving conflicts between rival gangs or groups, the testimony of members from either side is admissible and relevant. If the court is convinced of the veracity and truthfulness of such testimony, it may be considered," the bench said.