The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on an appeal filed by the state government as well as on a revision plea moved by the complainant against the acquittal of Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra in a 22-year-old Lakhimpur Kheri murder case.
A division bench of Justices Ramesh Sinha and Renu Agarwal passed the order after hearing the pleas of both sides at length. As the arguments of the state counsel Arunendra, the complainant's advocate and Mishra's lawyer Gopal Chaturvedi were concluded, the bench said that it was reserving its decision to be pronounced later.
The case pertains to the murder of 24-year-old Prabhat Gupta which took place in Lakhimpur Kheri in 2000. Mishra was charge sheeted along with other accused, but during trial the sessions court did not find adequate evidence against him and acquitted him in 2004.
Aggrieved by the trial court's order, the state government moved an appeal in 2004 challenging it. Similarly, complainant Rajeev Gupta also challenged the trial court's order by filing a revision petition. Later, the chief justice of the high court had directed to expedite the hearing in the case.
(With PTI Inputs)
