The case before the top court arose out of appeals filed by the brother of one of the deceased in a 28-year-old double-murder case.
Singh is said to have opened fire on a group of persons for not voting as per his wish in the 1995 Legislative Assembly elections, following which two persons died.
In the criminal case registered over the incident, the Supreme Court found that “everything was going as per the plan and wish” of the main accused, Prabhunath Singh, who had mustered the support of the administration and the investigating agency.
He influenced and won over almost all the witnesses, who were declared hostile, the Court further found.
“The relevant formal witnesses including the Investigating Officer were not produced in the trial by the prosecution, the Public Prosecutor prosecuting the case was supporting the defence, the Presiding Officers were completely insensitive towards their pious duty,” the Court added.
However, the bench noted that Singh had made a ‘glaring mistake’ in getting a court witness Lalmuni Devi, the mother of a deceased, kidnapped ten days before the date fixed for recording of her statement.
This led to the filing of a habeas corpus petition in the High Court, which led to Devi eventually deposing before the trial court. The inspecting judge recorded several adverse remarks against the prosecutor and other officials.
The trial was then directed to be shifted from Patna to Bhagalpur, after noting that Devi had been influenced to initially depose that she had not been kidnapped.
Source: Barandbench
