New Delhi: A Delhi court on Monday convicted four people in a case relating to the murder of former railway minister LN Mishra at a function in Bihar nearly 40 years ago.
The court, which had reserved the judgement on September 12, was earlier scheduled to pronounce it on November 10 but deferred it for December 8 as the order was not ready. The final arguments in the case had begun in September, 2012.
The case relates to the bomb blast at a function attended by Mishra at Samastipur Railway Station on January 2, 1975. He succumbed to injuries the next day.
Over 200 witnesses, including 161 prosecution witnesses and more than 40 defence witnesses, were examined in the case.
Advocate Ranjan Dwivedi, who was 24-year-old at that time, was named as an accused along with four Ananda Marga group members, one of whom has died.
Apart from Dwivedi, three other accused in the case are Santoshananda Avadhuta, Sudevananda Avadhuta and Gopalji.
The accused had earlier approached the Supreme Court for quashing of the trial against them in the murder case. The apex court had on August 17, 2012 dismissed their pleas on the ground that the proceedings could not be quashed merely because they had not been concluded in the last 37 years.
The chargesheet in the case was filed on November 1, 1977 in a CBI court in Patna. The case was shifted to Delhi in 1979 on a plea by the then Attorney General to the apex court.
Except Gopalji, all those listed in the chargesheet in Mishra murder case were also named as accused in an attempt to murder case related to the bid on the life of then Chief Justice of India AN Ray in Delhi on March 20, 1975.
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