Supreme Court revives murder trial against former MLA, flags political influence

The Supreme Court on Monday expressed concern over political influence affecting cases involving powerful individuals, while setting aside a trial court order permitting Uttar Pradesh Police to withdraw the prosecution against former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) lawmaker Chhote Singh [Shailendra Kumar Srivastava vs State of UP].The bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Satish Chandra Sharma said that an accused person's election to the legislature cannot be a testament to their image among people."Matters of a gruesome crime akin to the double murder in the present case do not warrant withdrawal of prosecution merely on the ground of good public image of an accused named in the charge sheet after thorough investigation. Contrary to the Trial Court’s view, such withdrawal cannot be said to be allowed in public interest. This reasoning cannot be accepted especially in cases of involvement of influential people," the Court said..The Court also observed that the judicial system often finds itself grappling with the pervasive issues of prolonged delay and suspected political influence within the legal proceedings. The present case highlights the alarming trend where cases, particularly those involving influential figures, face significant delays, obstructing the administration of justice, the Court said."The undue influence wielded by powerful individuals further exacerbates the situation, raising concerns about fairness and impartiality. This underscores the urgent need to address systemic flaws and ensure timely resolution of legal disputes," it added..In the present case, Singh and nine others were facing trial for a double murder that took place in 1994. Soon after Singh was appointed as Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) on the ticket of then ruling party Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in 2007, the State decided to withdraw the prosecution against him and others. After Governor's approval, the State moved the trial court which in May 2012 allowed the application for withdrawal of prosecution against Singh, observing that his image is good among the public and he is a respected citizen of the society. The public has shown its trust in him by electing him to the Legislative Assembly, the trial court said.However, the trial court refused to permit withdrawal of prosecution against other accused. .The matter then reached the Allahabad High Court - the remaining accused filed revision petitions against trial court's order to not permit withdrawal of prosecution against them.The widow of one of the victims also approached the High Court against the decision to withdraw prosecution against Singh. However, the revisions filed in 2012 faced repeated adjournments before the High Court, compelling the victim's son to approach the Supreme Court.He informed the top court that the trial has been pending for almost three decades on account of the prolonged pendency of the criminal revision petitions as trial court record has been retained by the High Court..The top court accepted that the case presents concerning circumstances wherein politically influential individuals accused of a double murder in broad daylight have evaded trial for almost three decades."We also acknowledge that it is evident from the Trial Court’s order dated 19.05.2012 that political power has been leveraged to secure the withdrawal of prosecution of accused Chhote Singh. While the other nine accused were put to trial and their applications rejected without a reasoned order, this order being challenged by both, accused persons and the victims, has remained pending before the High Court for twelve years and the resultant stagnation in trial proceedings is deeply troubling. Given the gravity of the situation and the risk of miscarriage of justice, urgent action is warranted," the Court stated. .The Court also questioned the repeated adjournments given by the High Court in the revision petitions pending before it and said the same had allowed the accused persons to deploy dilatory tactics to delay their trial.The High Court failed to ensure that the justice system is set in motion and is not halted due to the lamentable specter of political influence, it remarked."Acknowledging the extensive delay already caused in the case, we are inclined to request the High Court to ensure that justice is not further delayed or compromised- due to political influence or any other extraneous factors," the Court added..While allowing the revision petition of the victim's kin pending before High Court, the top court also ordered the following with regard to revision petitions of accused persons,"This Court directs the registry to send a copy of this order to the registry of the Allahabad High Court. Additionally, the parties before the High Court are also at liberty to bring this order to the notice of the High Court in the pending revisions by the accused. Thereafter, the High Court shall, considering the observations made by this Court, re-evaluate the remaining cases and decide the other pending criminal revision petitions for the withdrawal of prosecution as prayed by the remaining nine accused persons," the Court said. The Court also underscored the paramount importance of an expeditious trial and directed that the High court shall retain with it only copies of the trial court record for its perusal and consideration.The original record be sent back to the trial court for expeditious conclusion of the criminal trial which has been pending for almost three decades now, it ordered..[Read Judgment]