The Supreme Court has convicted former RJD MP Prabhunath Singh in a 1995 double murder case in which he was acquitted by the lower court and the Patna High Court also upheld that acquittal. A three-judge bench in the Supreme Court has fixed September 1 for arguing the sentence for not voting in the 1995 elections as per Prabhunath Singh's request for the murder of former MP Rajendra Rai and Daroga Rai in Masrakh, Chhapra.The court has asked the Chief Secretary and DGP of Bihar to present Prabhunath Singh, who is currently serving his sentence in jail in another murder case.
Prabhunath Singh, a three-time JDU MP from Bihar's Maharajganj Lok Sabha seat and once on an RJD ticket, was accused of killing 47-year-old Daroga Rai and 18-year-old Rajendra Rai in 1995 near a polling booth in Masrakh. It was alleged that both of them did not vote for the candidate supported by Prabhunath Singh, so they were killed. The case was transferred from Chhapra to Patna where the trial took place after the brother of the deceased complained about threats to the witnesses. In 2008, the Patna court acquitted Prabhunath Singh due to lack of evidence. In 2012, the Patna High Court also upheld the decision of the lower court. After this, the brother of the deceased Rajendra Rai challenged the decision in the Supreme Court.
In the Supreme Court, the bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Justice AS Oka and Justice Vikram Nath, overturning the decision of the High Court, convicted Prabhunath Singh, the accused number 2 of the case. The court said that there is enough evidence against Singh. The Supreme Court upheld the acquittal of the rest of the accused in the case. The court has given the date of September 1 for the debate on the sentence, on which day the order to produce Prabhunath Singh has been given to the Chief Secretary of Bihar and the Director General of Police.
Prabhunath Singh is currently serving a sentence in a murder case of 1995 itself. Ashok Singh, the MLA from Masrakh who had defeated Prabhunath Singh in the elections, was killed in 1995. After the electoral defeat, Prabhunath Singh had reportedly said that he would kill Ashok Singh within three months. Ashok Singh was murdered in broad daylight at his house. Prabhunath Singh was convicted in this case in 2017 and in the same case he is currently serving a sentence in jail. In politics, Prabhunath Singh was earlier with Anand Mohan but later joined Nitish Kumar. Prabhunath Singh joined Lalu Yadav in 2010 after a dispute with Nitish.
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