Patna: The Patna high court, in a key verdict, upheld the punishment of rigorous imprisonment (RI) for life awarded to seven convicts in the 45-year-old Biharsharif communal riots case.On July 21, 2018, the fast track court (FTC)-1 of Nalanda at Biharsharif had held Ishwar Singh and six others guilty of committing arson, assault as well as the brutal murder of 11 persons of a community, including women and children, on May 1, 1980, and had sentenced them to RI for life. However, by the same judgment, the court had acquitted Panna Lal and Raj Kishore Sao — the prime suspects who allegedly led the perpetrating mob.A division bench of justices Bibek Chaudhuri and Chandra Shekhar Jha, while upholding the judgement of FTC, Nalanda, dismissed the criminal appeals of Ishwari Singh and six other convicts on April 24, which also came into the public domain the same evening after being uploaded on the HC website.However, the two judges deprecated the judicial approach of the same FTC for acquitting the prime suspects, against whom the high court found sufficient evidence laid by the prosecution to hold them guilty of committing the same crime of murder and rioting.While pointing out serious lapses in the FTC’s decision of acquitting the said two accused, the HC remarked, “we are not only astonished but also ashamed of the judicial mind depicted by presiding officer of FTC while acquitting the alleged leaders of violent mob.”Even after dismissing the criminal appeals preferred by seven convicts, the high court kept the matter alive for further hearing. While invoking their extraordinary judicial powers in light of Supreme Court rulings, the division bench issued notices to be served upon the acquitted accused through the concerned station house officer (SHO) to reply as to why their acquittal order should not be quashed in view of abundant evidence available against them in court records.
